A few weeks ago, Marlin Wakeman was climbing onto a docked yacht in the Bahamas when it surged in the water, causing him to slip off and into the harbor.
“I knew what was coming,” Wakeman explained.
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In a matter of seconds, the 24-year-old Floridian was able to pull himself back aboard the boat, but not before a Caribbean reef shark bit his leg.
The boat was docked at Long Island’s Flying Fish Marina, which attracts sharks due to the number of fish corpses abandoned by fishermen, Wakeman added.
At a news event on Thursday at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he received treatment for his shark bite, Wakeman informed reporters, “There are always 20 sharks roaming around.” “Me and my buddies were discussing the fact that if you fall in here, it’s the end.”
He claimed that the shark pulled him under water before releasing his leg, allowing him to pull himself aboard the boat before another shark bit him.
“I had so much adrenaline going through my body,” he stated.
Wakeman claimed that his boat skipper put a tourniquet around his leg after he came out of the water. As the adrenaline wore off, he began to feel a lot of discomfort.
“I said, ‘Hey man, like, I really don’t want to die right now,'” he told his captain. “Like, this ain’t it.”
He proceeded to a neighboring clinic for “damage control,”ย where they stitched up the cut to stop the bleeding, before going to St. Mary’s Medical Center for surgery, according to Dr. Robert Borrego, a trauma surgeon at the hospital.
According to Borrego, the shark that bit Wakeman is at least 7 feet long, based on the circumference of the bite wound. Borrego said the shark perforated the kneecap but missed a neighboring artery.
According to Borrego, the team sought to clear up the incision to reduce the risk of infection and treat the joint injury. He expects Wakeman to fully recover.
“The fact that there were 20 sharks in there and you were able to get out with a leg is amazing,” Borrego told reporters. Each year, Borrego treats many shark-bite patients. “I think that is almost to say how quickly he reacted and didn’t panic.”
Wakeman’s parents said they were horrified to learn about the incident, even though they knew their son was always at risk of shark bites because he works in the ocean.
“I know what they’re capable of,” his father, Rufus Wakeman, a boat captain, told journalists. “I know what they’re capable of,” Rufus Wakeman, a boat captain, told journalists. It’s our son. And it’s simply scary.”
His parents expressed gratitude to everyone involved, from the crew on the boat to the specialists in the clinic and hospital.
“We’re just very grateful to be able to be here, and Marlin gets to tell his story,” his mother, Melynda Wakeman, told reporters.
Wakeman also expressed gratitude for the opportunity to share his shark encounter.
“They’re an apex predator, and if they bite you, it can be pretty ugly,” he stated. “I got very lucky, and it could have turned out to be a completely different, you know, outcome.”
When asked how this may affect him in the future, Wakeman replied that he may “have some nightmares here and there” but believes he will be fine.
“I would just maybe take another two seconds to be a little bit more careful when I jumped on the boat,” stated the man.
