Shark Bites Florida Tourist 'to the Bone'

A Colorado woman is recovering from a serious shark bite and a less serious shark-punching wound after fighting off an attacker at a Florida beach on Sunday. Jill Kruse, 28, was bitten on her calf "to the bone" when the shark attacked her at Cocoa Beach on the state's Atlantic coast near Cape Canaveral, a witness tells NBC News. A witness tells Bay News 9 that she jumped in the sea to rescue Kruse after hearing a cry for help. "I saw the fin come up and slap her in the face and she said it got me, so I grabbed her hand and dragged her back onto the shore," the rescuer says.

Kruse's mother says they had just arrived the day before for a family vacation. "I told everybody about rip currents, warned them about rip currents," but "forgot to tell them about sharks," she tells News 6, adding that her daughter is in "great spirits," although she'll need surgery on her leg and stitches on her hand where she punched the shark. A county rescue official tells Florida Today that it's not clear what kind of shark bit Kruse because of the "plethora of sharks in the area. Bull sharks, black tip, spinners." (A 10-year-old boy was seriously injured last week in what is believed to be Hawaii's seventh shark attack this year.)