Shark bite survivor: Palm Bay surfer Chris Pospisil recovering after New Smyrna Beach bite
Without warning, the shark bit Palm Bay surfer Chris Pospisil's left ankle with such force that one of its sharp teeth snapped off and embedded in a foot bone.
“I looked down, and I saw my foot in its mouth. And it bit down on my foot, and it pushed me over the side of my board," recalled Pospisil, who is a member of the University of Central Florida surf team.
"And I was underwater, and I kicked it and it let go. And I resurfaced up and started screaming for my friend Reece (Redish) to come get me,” he said.
Pospisil reached the beach and started losing consciousness because of blood loss and shock. Seeing his mangled lower leg for the first time, he saw the shark's jaws had peeled a large hunk of skin off the top of his foot.
Seven tendons were severed. A bone was sticking out. And blood squirted out of an exposed artery.
After undergoing four hours of emergency surgery at Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach, Pospisil is continuing his long medical recovery. He stopped requiring antibiotic IVs to ward off infection in mid-August, and he graduated from crutches to a walking boot two weeks ago.
In the meantime, the senior criminal justice major will have to postpone his graduation from UCF until May. He remains unable to work his construction job, and he cannot compete with his college surf squad.
“It's been hard. It's definitely very hard mentally," Pospisil said on Thursday, his 22nd birthday.
"My mental health is kind of suffering a little bit, just in the fact that it's like going from being a normal 21-year-old, 22-year-old guy going out with your friends or surfing every day or going to the gym. I was very physical and active. I was usually never home. I was always out doing something or hanging out with my friends somewhere," he said.
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Pospisil still awaits his looming medical bills to arrive, but he fears they could accumulate up to $20,000. Saturday, a fundraising concert to defray his shark-bite costs starts at 6 p.m. at Iron Oak Post in downtown Melbourne.
Seven musical acts will perform: Atlas, Best Supporting Actor, Juliana Silvis, London On Fire, The Other White Meat, Saint of Pine Hills and LooseTight. Donations are suggested at the door, and a raffle and silent auction are planned.
Pospisil's cousin, Ashley Lumetta of Melbourne, co-organized the benefit concert. She also organized a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $10,700.
"My whole family went to the hospital. So my parents were there that night while he was in the hospital. And then I got there in the morning after he got out of surgery," Lumetta said of her cousin's shark bite.
During Labor Day weekend in Volusia County, a shark bit a 37-year-old Apopka woman on the right foot and a male surfer in his 30s was bitten in the left hand, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. Both victims were bitten near Ponce Inlet, and both went to the hospital.
Pospisil's grisly shark attack generated global news headlines. He credits his surf buddy Reece, who lives south of Melbourne Beach, with helping save his life. They estimate the shark may have measured 6 feet long.
“I thought my foot might be gone when it first attacked me. The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘This can’t be real,' " Pospisil said during an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
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Next, Pospisil said doctors will evaluate his wounds later this month to see if he is ready to start six to eight months of physical therapy.
Steve Keller, vice president of the music-geared nonprofit Harbor City Local, is co-organizing Saturday's benefit concert. He sings and plays drums in Best Supporting Actor, and the event will also celebrate his upcoming 50th birthday.
"I knew I wanted to have a party, but I also wanted to help out a good cause. When I heard about Chris' situation, it was something that I wanted to help," Keller said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Shark attack: Palm Bay surfer's foot recovering after New Smyrna bite
