"Shark Attack Survivors News Archive"

04/01/2007 Jack LoMedico (Florida)

Shark Attack Survivors News Archive for Shark Attacks in 2007.
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04/01/2007 Jack LoMedico (Florida)

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Boy Bitten By Shark
Sunday, April 01, 2007 2:25:00 PM

A shark bit a 7-year-old boy in New Smyrna Beach this afternoon, the Volusia County Beach Patrol said.

The boy was out on the sandbar at the Crawford Beach Ramp when he was bitten. He has about 14 or 16 puncture wounds on his right calf.

The beach patrol said his injuries are not life threatening and that the boy was transported to Bert Fish Memorial in New Smyrna Beach.

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2007 ... _bite.html
Last edited by sharkbait on Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Seminole Co. Boy Bitten By Shark
Shark Bite Gives Lomedico 60 Stitches, No Permanent Damage

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 7-year-old boy was bitten by a shark on a Volusia County beach over the weekend.

It happened at Waveland Park in New Smyrna Beach on Sunday, WESH 2 News reported.

Jake Lomedico attends Heathrow Elementary in Seminole County, and he was the first victim of a shark bite this year in Volusia County.


Lomedico was swimming on a sandbar when he was bitten. The windy weather had apparently made the water pretty murky, and officials said that can lead to shark bites because the creatures get confused while looking for food.

Lomedico received 60 stitches in his left leg at Bert Fish Medical Center and was released.

"I got bitten by a shark, and if they don't believe it, I'll prove it by my leg," Lomedico said.

Doctors said Lomedico will be fine. Despite the many bite marks, the family said they'll go back to the beach, but getting into the water may be a gradual process.

http://www.wesh.com/news/11481867/detail.html
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Volusia's Youngest Shark Attack Victim Talks About Ordeal

POSTED: 4:32 pm EDT April 2, 2007
UPDATED: 5:38 pm EDT April 2, 2007

HEATHROW, Fla. -- The youngest shark bite victim on record in Volusia County spoke with Eyewitness News on Monday about his scary day at the beach. Jack LoMedico was bitten twice while swimming Sunday in New Smyrna Beach.


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WEB EXCLUSIVE: Complete Interview With Young Victim
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The attack happened just south of Ponce Inlet, near the Crawford Street beach ramp. While, Monday, SkyWitness didn't spot any sharks in the area, no one saw sharks Sunday, either, until it was too late.

"It hurt really bad," Jack told Eyewitness News.

It's a heck of a story for show and tell when Jack returns to Heathrow Elementary.

"A shark came and bit me on my leg. The first time, it didn't feel so bad. Second time, I'm like , 'I just got bit by a shark!'"


Nearly two dozen puncture wounds required 60 stitches. There will be a scar and an everlasting memory of the panic.

"Until we pulled him out of water, couldn't tell what happened. I was thrilled all the toes were there. But there was lots of blood and I'm with baby screaming," said Jennifer LoMedico, Jack's mother.

On top of it all, Jack's little brother, Andrew, was also in the water and saw the whole thing.

"He was scared and he was crying after I got bit," Jack said.

"He got bit by a shark and I was crying because I was so sad," Andrew said.

On Tuesday, Jack will go back to school for his show and tell and a word of advice to other beachgoers.

"I would probably tell them not to go onto sandbar unless it's an area with no sharks on it," he said.

Believe it or not, Jack wants to go back in the ocean, someday. But for now, the closest he will come to any body of water is in his backyard in the pool.

Beach Patrol said that it was likely a spinner shark that bit Jack. Like most attacks, the juvenile shark likely thought the 7-year-old's leg was food.

Lifeguards said such incidents will increase as the water warms and when the ocean is murky and turbulent, which it is now.

http://www.wftv.com/news/11496462/detail.html
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Sharks bite two on barrier island beaches

Tanya Caldwell | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 1, 2007, 7:41 PM EDT

A seven-year-old boy was attacked by a shark in New Smyrna Beach today, making him the first shark-bite victim in Volusia County this year and possibly the county's youngest, a beach official said today.

The boy, who did not have life-threatening injuries, was bitten on the back of his calf while playing in the shallow waters at the Crawford Beach approach, said spokesman Scott Petersohn of the Volusia County Beach Patrol.

He got out after the attack and his parents found 14 to 16 puncture wounds in a half-moon shape on the back of his leg, Petersohn said. EVAC ambulance took him to Bert Fish Memorial Hospital.

Petersohn said he doesn't recall ever having a seven-year-old attacked in Volusia County.

"This may be the youngest one we have on record," Petersohn said.

Volusia is the shark-attack capital of the world, according to a study released this year by the University of Florida. It has more attacks than any other county in Florida, and Florida has more attacks than any country on the globe, the study reported.

April is the month in which shark attacks start to pick up, Petersohn said. Last April there were eight such attacks in the county, he said.

But most of the attacks in Volusia are really just bites that happen when a shark mistakes a human for food, Petersohn said.

"They'll swim up, bite, realize you're just as big as they are -- or bigger -- and swim away," Petersohn said. He said today's bite happened really as a "luck of the draw. It was kind of a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... ?track=rss
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