May 10 2011 MIAMI
Jackson Memorial Hospital
MIAMI (WSVN) --
A tourist heads home after a shark attacked him while he posed for a picture.
Michigan tourist Brian Storch and his girlfriend rented a charter boat Tuesday morning when a shark attacked Storch on board as he posed to take a picture. "I got bit by a shark," he said.
Storch hired charter boat captain Mark "The Shark." About a half a mile out at sea, Storch's girlfriend caught an 8-foot long 220-pound sandbar shark. The couple asked Mark to take a picture, and a short time later, Storch was attacked. "I snapped the picture. Then, a second later, the shark just reached up and grabbed him by the arm, and then it was all over that quick," said Mark.
Mark and his crew immediately attended to Storch's arm bite. "We did a tight, tight bandage on him, and we elevated his arm," Mark said.
As the crew tried to stop Storch from bleeding, the boat headed back to shore, where paramedics rushed Storch to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
A few hours later, Storch was released with several stitches on his arm. He said he felt great. "If I had to change it, I'd do it all over again," said Storch.
In 35 years, Mark said he has never seen anything like what happened Tuesday. "It was just a freak thing. Once in a million," he said.
(Copyright 2011 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
