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A juvenile is attacked by a shark at a Florida beach, suffers serious injuries

"A family member reportedly jumped in the water and beat the shark until the juvenile was free," the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office said.
/ Source: TODAY

A shark attacked a juvenile Thursday at a beach in Florida, according to the Taylor County Sheriff's Office.

The juvenile, whose age was not disclosed, was bitten while in the town of Keaton Beach.

"Deputies with Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, along with Taylor County Fire & Rescue and Century Ambulance EMS, responded to Keaton Beach today to provide emergency assistance to a juvenile who had sustained a shark bite while scalloping near Grassy Island in water approximately five feet deep," the sheriff's office said in a release Thursday.

"The juvenile was bit by an undetermined type of shark, described as approximately nine feet long. A family member reportedly jumped in the water and beat the shark until the juvenile was free. The juvenile was airlifted to a Tallahassee hospital with serious injuries.

"Swimmers and scallopers are cautioned to be alert, vigilant, and practice shark safety. Some rules to follow are: never swim alone, do not enter the water near fishermen, avoid areas such as sandbars (where sharks like to congregate), do not swim near large schools of fish, and avoid erratic movements while in the water."

The sheriff's office did not return TODAY's call for comment.

This attack comes shortly a week after a swimmer off the coast in California was bitten by a shark. The victim, identified as Steve Bruemmer, 62, of Monterey, California, was swimming at Lovers Point Beach, in the city of Pacific Grove.

A nurse, a policeman and a surfer were in the area and rushed to his aid before he was taken to a hospital.

“Those three (the surfer and the two paddleboarders) got me onto the extra board, and they had me hold the surfer’s ankle while he paddled like crazy to get me to the beach,” Bruemmer said in a statement. “They, along with several bystanders, including a doctor and a nurse who were on the beach for the day, helped put tourniquets on me and get me to the ambulance.”