'Glad I Didn't Lose Any Toes Or Foot': Florida Teen Recovering From Shark Bite

AUGUSTINE BEACH (CBSMiami) – A Florida teenager is in good spirits after being bitten by a shark while surfing with his Dad in St. Augustine Beach.

If it wasn't for the crutches and bandages on his ankle, it would be difficult to know Peyton McGinn was bitten by the shark on Saturday afternoon.

"It was about like knee-deep water. I turned my board around, about to go paddle back out. And then when as soon as I got off my board, he just like came up and bit my foot and then I was like really shocked," said McGinn.

He said he wasn't sure what was happening at first.

"I thought it was like someone just grabbed my ankle. I couldn't even feel like a shark or anything. I thought someone was just like messing with me or something, and I look down I was like, 'Oh shoot, it's a shark!'"

McGinn said he hopped back to the beach, where two men wrapped a shirt around his wounds and called for help.

"The two guys that helped me on the beach when I came out of the water, I really appreciate them guys, because, without them, they wouldn't have been able to stop the bleeding," he said.

McGinn says the bite came from a Blacktip shark and didn't cause any long-term damage.

"They didn't hit like any nerves or muscles anything. It's just like five deep wounds and then there's a bunch of like, teeth prints, around," he said.

According to stats from the University of Florida, 41 of the 64 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide in 2019, happened in the United States. Of those in the USA, 21 happened in Florida.

McGinn's focus is now healing and getting back to the football field as a freshman linebacker.

"I'll probably miss the first three games of the season," but added, ""I was like, kind of thinking about like how glad I was I didn't lose any toes or losing my foot or anything."