May 22, 2009
Luis Hernandez thought it was going to take a miracle for him to escape with his life when a 7 foot Bull shark attacked and clamped down on his left arm, with excruciating pressure. (Hernandez above left, Bullshark above right)
Instead it required only his 5', 2" 108 pound wife to save his life. After Hernandez had pried open the shark's jaws with his good hand, pulled out his mangled and bloody arm and waited helplessly in the water for the shark's return to finish its meal, his wife, Marlene, hauled up the anchor, started the motor on their small rental boat, and raced to her husband's rescue. She managed to pull the 160 pound Hernandez, with his useless arm, into the small boat.
Marlene held her stricken husband in her lap and called for help on a radio as she raced some four miles to shore, and help. Luis was treated in a local clinic before being airlifted to Jackson Memorial, where he has undergone five surgeries and expects to undergo several more as his surgeon, Dr. Roberto Miki, rebuilds his forearm.
Miki said the shark only narrowly missed severing an artery in Luis’ elbow.
“He was probably about an inch away from losing his arm and losing his life. An inch more and he probably would not have made it out of the water.”
The shark was not available for comment for this story, and it remains unclear who attacked whom, first. It's Hernandez' word against the shark's and Martinez was invading the shark's domain and threatening his family and friends with a speargun.
A Florida marine official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the shark was well within its rights and Hernandez is lucky to be alive. "There isn't a prosecutor in the state who would try to indict that shark," said the official.
This story appears staged to me, solely for publicity. It has been my experience that Bull Sharks are tame, timid creatures who can be found lurking near shallow reefs to avoid their more ferocious shark cousins who patrol the ocean depths in search of prey. I was snorkling once, near a shallow reef, when I came face to face with a 12 foot Bull Shark. I immediately extended my hand, with a few water-soaked gummy bears I had left in the pocket of my swimming trunks. The shark sniffed the gummy bears, tentatively, then took the gummy bears and my entire hand from the wrist down and swam away. After staunching the flow of blood from my now shortened arm, I was able to get to shore where I was tended by a popsicle vendor until I could be taken to a hospital and my stump sewed up tight and secure. I now sport a gorgeous, steel blue-grey hook, that gets me a lot of attention from women, many of whom has some inventive and interesting uses for my hook.
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