ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: A woman was brutally bitten by a shark while swimming in the water during a friend's birthday party on Florida's Gulf Coast on Saturday, July 30. The incident occurred at St Pete's Pier near St Petersburg, when Natalie Branda, 26, dropped a float in the water and was swimming when she felt a sudden pressure around her upper thigh. Realizing she had been bitten, she quickly swam back to the boat. “I just felt pressure, and it released, and I was like ‘I got bit!'" she said, per the New York Post, adding, “I swam the fastest I ever swam to the boat.”
Upon reaching the boat, Branda's friends provided first aid immediately by applying pressure to her wound, and they promptly returned to the dock while contacting emergency services. "Then I turned around and everyone was like: ‘Oh, my God,'” she said. The hospital confirmed the wounds were indeed from a shark bite when they stitched her up. The bite left significant wounds stretching from her buttocks to her belly button.
'The water was kind of murky'
Branda recieved 14 stitches at the hospital. Despite the ordeal, she remains resilient and intends to venture back into the water in the future. However, she acknowledged the need for greater caution, particularly in murky waters, and emphasized on the importance of respecting marine creatures in their natural habitat.
“It’s not very common that people experience that and walk away with just some stitches,” Branda's friend Allie Mucks reportedly said.
“I don’t know if I’ll do what we did last time. The water was kind of murky. It was the perfect cocktail for the perfect storm,” Branda said, adding, “We are invading their home. It sucks that this happened, but when you’re entering and being with large creatures in their home, you have to respect them. I’ll probably get back in the water, but I need to recover first.”
Another similar incident
Another incident of a shark attack was reported just two days later, approximately 160 miles away on Florida's Atlantic Coast. Brandon Boncore, 22, of Oviedo, was bitten on his left ankle while surfing near an inlet at New Smyrna Beach. Although he didn't see the shark, he mentioned observing sharks in the area. He managed to reach the shore and sought assistance from a fellow surfer who also happened to be a paramedic.
Boncore underwent surgery at a nearby hospital to remove a shark tooth that was embedded in his leg. Despite the incident, he plans to continue surfing, recognizing the inherent risks associated with such activities. “I felt something kind of pulling me down. It hurt for sure, but not as bad as you would think. I got lucky, to be honest with you. It gave me a little love bite,” he told Fox 35 Orlando.
Both incidents are not isolated cases as Volusia County Beach Safety officials reported two other shark attacks at the same beach in July. Florida holds the unfortunate distinction of being the shark bite capital of the world, with the highest number of incidents being reported from Volusia County. Despite the risks posed by these incidents, both Branda and Boncore acknowledged the rarity of such encounters and expressed their determination to return to the water.
“I’m definitely going back in. I definitely knew the risks, and unfortunately it was me, but the chances of it happening to someone else is very, very rare,” Boncore said.
