Surfer Expected To Survive Shark Attack Off Humboldt Coast
EUREKA (CBS SF) - A man who was bitten by a shark off of the Humboldt Coast Tuesday will likely survive the encounter despite foot-long gashes to his ribs and torso, according to the Eureka Times-Standard.
The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office got a call just after noon indicating that a man, who remains unidentified, had been bitten.
The attack happened near the North Jetty, an opening from the Humboldt Bay into the Pacific Ocean which is located across the bay from the City of Eureka. The location is a popular destination for North Coast surfers.
According to the paper, fellow surfers heard someone screaming for help, but the victim was able to get to shore on his own power. A fellow surfer who was just leaving the beach transported the man into Eureka, where emergency personnel met them and took him to St. Joseph Hospital. He was listed in fair condition Tuesday afternoon.
"It punctured all the way through. There were guts and meat hanging," driver Jason Gabriel told the Times-Standard. "He was going 'Oh my God, oh my God.'"
Gabriel said the man suffered large gashes between the ribs and hips. A surfboard with a large chunk bitten out of it was recovered at the scene.
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