8-Year-Old Attacked by Shark Off North Carolina

A late-afternoon swim off Bald Head Island, North Carolina, turned terrifying for an 8-year-old boy Sunday when a shark chomped down on his leg. It's the third such attack in the state this month. Village Manager Chris McCall tells WECT that EMS got a call around 4pm after something grabbed the boy's leg as he swam. "A young boy was bitten by something [thought] to be a shark given the type of wounds sustained and assessment made by first-responders," McCall says. It's not clear what kind of shark it was, or how big.

The boy, who had several puncture wounds, was taken by ferry to a hospital on the mainland. He's expected to make a full recovery. The New York Post notes that shark attacks on humans are actually uncommon, with just 66 unprovoked attacks around the world recorded last year; just four of those were fatal. However, North Carolina has seen its fair share lately: Last week, a 19-year-old surfer was bitten on the foot by a shark off Ocean Isle Beach, while earlier this month, a 17-year-old girl was attacked off Atlantic Beach. (She thinks sharks "are still good people.")