03/02/2023 Arthur 6yr Praslin Island SEYCHELLES

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Translation from French to English

Attacked by a lemon shark in the Seychelles, a 6-year-old French boy comes close to drama

On vacation in the Seychelles with his parents and sister, Arthur, 6, was the target of a lemon shark on March 2.
The shark, whose size can reach more than 3m, seriously bit the foot of the child who, miraculously, escaped the worst.
In "Le Parisien" this Saturday, his father wants to warn about the risks and snorkeling.

According to the skippers who supervised the trip to the paradise island of Grande-Soeur, the sharks that prowled around were harmless. Those who have been off the coast of Praslin Island in the Seychelles praise the magnificent beaches, the barbecues on the sand and advise to indulge in snorkeling, this activity which consists of diving with a mask and tuba to meet underwater species. . Divers can thus admire turtles, rays and fish of all kinds... including the famous lemon sharks.

It is this excursion that the family chooses on vacation in the Seychelles, not imagining that it would come close to drama. In Le Parisien, Jean-Florent returns to this episode, which occurred on March 2 and which "prevented him from sleeping for days". As his 6-year-old son, Arthur, was waiting for him a meter from the edge of the beach, in only 30 cm of water, a lemon shark, which just there seemed peaceful, swooped down on the foot of the little boy, bites him and rushes off. The child screams and bleeds profusely.

He could have died

Jean-Florent, Arthur's father, survivor after a shark attack
It is with a simple bandage to compress the wound that Arthur must navigate for 45 minutes to reach the nearest hospital, but the injury is too serious. The boy's left kick was shredded and four tendons were torn, reports the Ile-de-France daily. Arthur must be flown to Mahé, the main island of the Seychelles. There, he undergoes a two-hour operation, it allows him to save his foot. Once examined at the Necker children's hospital on his return to Paris, the doctors estimate that he will be able to walk again within two months. "He could have severed his foot or taken Arthur to the bottom. He could have died (...) I want to testify to warn about this risk. There is lightness on the safety rules" ,

The lemon shark, one of the most dangerous species for humans

Especially since the aggressiveness of these lemon sharks, whose average size varies between 2.20 and 2.80m and which can reach 3.40m is not surprising: in a report on the accidentology of attacks of sharks (not in the Indian Ocean but in French Polynesia where this species is regularly encountered), we can read that " Polynesians fear this shark whose behavior is sometimes fearful, sometimes extremely aggressive. Considered dangerous because of its size and the power of his jaw, he is responsible for several documented accidents in Polynesia ". They are among "the most dangerous species for humans in Polynesia, along with the mako, the tiger and the border" .

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