"He did not want to give up": a teenager attacked by a shark in North County

A teenager had to be flown to hospital after a shark attack at Beacon's Beach in Encinitas on Saturday. (Photo: Anton Gerschler)

ENCINITAS, Calif. – A teenager was attacked by a shark off Beacon's Beach in Encinitas on Saturday morning, witnesses told FOX 5.

Calls were launched for the attack around 7 am, confirmed the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. The deputy ministers assisted Encinitas rescuers and security officers on the scene.

A witness who knew the victim told FOX 5 that he was a young teenager participating in a lobster dive. Photos of the scene showed lifeguards treating the boy on the beach before transferring him to a helicopter to drive him to the hospital.

Chad Hammel, who was accompanying a group of friends in search of lobster, helped save the boy and brought him safely on their kayak. Hammel said his group had been diving for about half an hour that morning, when they heard screaming. At first he thought it was the enthusiastic cry of another lobster diver. But then, "I realized he was screaming, it's me who bit me! I bit myself! & # 39; Hammel said.

Chad Hammel was diving with his friends when he heard the terrified cries of a teenager who had just been attacked by a shark. The group pulled the boy on his kayak and took him safely.
(Photo: OnScene)

The group approached the boy and fired on the kayak. They quickly realized that the teenager was suffering from severe bites and was bleeding profusely. "All his collarbone was torn," Hammel said. "We told him he would be fine, he would be fine, we have help. I shouted to everyone out of the water: "There is a shark in the water!

As the group headed towards the shore, Hammel turned to a terrifying spectacle: "Once we threw it on the kayak and started to steer, it was when I looked back that the Shark was behind the kayak. He did not want to give up yet. "

The group of friends – some of whom had medical training – tried to keep the boy calm and put pressure on his injuries when the blood filled their kayak.

People on the beach called paramedics who rushed to the scene and took the boy in a helicopter. He was flown to the hospital.

Officials have not yet released details on the boy's status.

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