A pregnant wife from Atlanta bravely jumped in the water off the Florida Keys on Sunday to save her husband who was being attacked by a shark, according to reports.
Andrew Eddy, 30, set out from the family’s private boat Sunday morning for snorkeling near Marathon, where he planned to explore the reefs at Sombrero Key Light, but he was bitten “immediately after entering the water,” the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.
»PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Atlanta snorkeler attacked by shark in Florida Keys
The man’s wife, Margot Dukes-Eddy, heard the commotion and leaped off the boat when she saw the shark’s dorsal fin and blood in the water, NBC News reported.
She managed to pull her husband back to the boat with a “severe” injury to his shoulder. Family members tended to the man’s wounds and administered first aid, according to reports. After reaching shore, Eddy was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
“This was a very rare medical crisis for the Florida Keys, but everyone came together — including those witnesses on the boat to 911 Communicators to all our emergency responders — in order to ensure this victim received lifesaving care,” Sheriff Rick Ramsay said, according to reports.
Eddy remains hospitalized although his condition was not known.
Other boaters in the vicinity later reported seeing what they thought was a 10-foot bull shark in the waters that morning, according to reports.
No other encounters or attacks were reported in the days leading up to Sunday’s incident.
Gavin Naylor, program director at the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, called Sunday’s attack extraordinary and told NBC News that it was “atypical for a shark to be this aggressive.”
“We haven’t had a shark bite in Monroe for about 10 years,” he said.
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