Surfer says he ‘had a feeling’ he would be bitten by a shark prior to attack

Madison Selcho
·2 min read
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One of many surfers at Juno Beach, Fla., on May 9, 2007, take advantage of the unusually high waves coming ashore.
One of many surfers at Juno Beach, Fla., on May 9, 2007, take advantage of the unusually high waves coming ashore. | J. Pat Carter, Associated Press

Mark Sumersett said he had a feeling a shark would bite him a day prior to his morning surf at New Smyrna Beach in Florida on Sept. 12.

Despite the premonition he felt, the 38-year-old South Carolina surfer still wanted to catch the incoming waves from Hurricane Lee and ended up with a shark bite to the face.

Here’s exactly how that happened.

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Did shark attack victim know he was going to get bitten?

“I had a feeling. I had a feeling I was going to get bit yesterday. I really did. Honestly, I had intuition,” Sumersett said, according to the New York Post.

The Washington Post reported that Sumersett had “seen at least a dozen” sharks swimming in the area but ultimately decided he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to catch those waves.

“I was scared to death, but the waves are so good,” Sumersett said.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that this recent attack makes for “seven shark bites in Volusia County” in 2023.

Florida is reportedly famous for being the “shark attack capital of the world” and “accounts for more than half of the total shark attacks in the United States each year.”

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How did a shark bite a man’s face?

The Washington Post reported that about an hour into surfing on his second day when he jumped into “about seven feet of water” was when the shark attacked.

When the shark bit him, Sumersett described the sensation as, “this huge pressure just hit my face. It felt like a bear trap was closing in on my face.”

Sumersett continued saying, “I heard crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.”

After the shark bit Sumersett, it reportedly released him “quickly” and Sumersett immediately began to paddle to shore thinking the shark was going to come after him again because of the amount of blood he was losing.

“It was the scariest thing I’ve probably ever been through in my life. I’ve been in bad car accidents. Nothing like this,” Sumersett said, according to WESH.

Sumersett reportedly didn’t have a chance to see the shark that attacked him after he fell off his board as, “the animal took a chunk out of the right side of his face, leaving marks on the bottom left, too. It took 20 or so stitches to close the wounds.”