Shark Attacks Florida Woman In North Palm Beach, Nearly Bites Off Hand

A Florida woman sustained major injuries from a lethal shark attack in Palm Beach County’s North Palm Beach on Oct. 23. Former emergency room nurse Susan Peteka, 60, who was enjoying her daily swim at 8 a.m. EDT, described experiencing a sudden “swipe” after which “blood and body tissue were flying out” of her.

“I just started screaming, ‘Help me, I’m going to die,’” Peteka told Palm Beach Post, as she could not spot anyone on the beach when she reached the shore.

Fortunately her cries alerted one of the occupants of a beachside condo, who immediately helped her out. The man wrapped Peteka’s injured arm in a towel before calling emergency services.

Peteka not only injured her left hand and wrist, but also sustained 20 torn tendons and ligaments, a severed artery, two fractured bones and nerve damage.

“Her injuries are a life-changer,” said Dr. Thomas Saylor, the orthopedic hand surgeon who treated Peteka at St. Mary’s Medical Center, said. “Her bite wounds are pretty traumatic. It’s a devastating injury.”

Saylor added the nature of Peteka’s wounds were rare. After clamping on Peteka’s wrist, the shark seemed to have thrashed around in the water, causing her hand to become “shredded.” Most sharks bite their human victims and let go immediately. A piece of the predator’s teeth broke off and was lodged in Peteka’s wrist.

No details about the shark that attacked Peteka have been released yet.

“I knew I had to get to shore quick or I would have been dead,” Peteka said. “You have superhuman strength that you don’t know you had until something like that happens to you. It’s a primal thing. You just do it.”

The attack, which happened when Peteka’s left arm was in mid-stroke, caused her to lose over two liters of blood. The doctors have advised Peteka that it might be more than a year before she is fully healed and can go swimming again.

“It’s going to keep me out of the water,” Peteka said. “I love swimming with a passion. But now, I can’t look at it. I can’t think about it. I don’t know that I can ever go back again.”

Jason Hartl, 17, became the second victim to another shark attack on the same day. The teenager was swimming near the pier in Juno Beach, Florida, when he speculated that a blacktip shark scavenging for bait sank its teeth into his foot. Over 50 stitches were required to close the wound on Hatl’s foot.

According to George Burgess, director emeritus for the University of Florida’s Program for Shark Research, sharks may swim near the beach in search of food during this time of the year, especially because this is when inland water fishes make their way out to the ocean to find warmer water to spawn. Unprovoked shark attacks are not so common. Despite this, there were 84 unprovoked attacks worldwide and four fatalities in 2016, Burgess said.