Witness Account of Shark Incident

Wednesday, July 1, 2015 - 17:16 Crystal Canterbury

Early this afternoon around 12:10pm, a shark biting incident occurred on Ocracoke’s Lifeguard Beach.

Kathy Pierce of Greenville, NC, said she and her family were swimming when they noticed a man about 20 feet away waving to the lifeguards posted on the beach.

“We saw a random man run into the water and he started waving at the lifeguards,” said visitor Anna McCunney, 8, of Greenville, NC.

This photo of the NPS truck responding to the scene is making the rounds of the internet. To whom do we give credit?

Within seconds a lifeguard rushed into the water to aid a 68 year-old man who had been injured by an apparent shark bite while using a boogie board and flippers. The other lifeguards were then signaled from the water and everyone mobilized.

“We were just playing, then everyone starting yelling for us to get out of the water,” said witness Gage Brewer, 9, of Greenville, NC.

Liam McCunney, 9, also from Greenville, said, “We saw the guy limping out of the water. Our Mom told us to get out of the water.”

Once the man was safely on the beach, Norah McCunney, 11, said, “There were doctors at the beach, and people were helping them out.”

Other beachgoers were using their towels to help stop the man’s wounds from bleeding and others were bringing water and Gatorade over to the man. Kathy Pierce said she propped up her beach umbrella to shade the victim while first responders stabilized him.

“The man was talking the whole time; he seemed like he was in pretty good spirits considering what had happened,” Pierce said.

The man was bitten on his left side with injuries from his torso to his knee. National Park Service Law Enforcement officers were the first to arrive on site following the initial quick response rescue performed by the lifeguards. Hyde County EMS arrived in the Lifeguard Beach parking area shortly after.