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Boy who lost leg in Florida shark attack celebrates 11th birthday
An 11-year-old boy who lost his leg while snorkeling in the Florida Keys for a family vacation says he is ready to get back into the water as he celebrates his birthday in the hospital
A young boy who was bitten by a shark while snorkeling near the Florida Keys and had to have his leg amputated plans to get back in the water – and back on the basketball court – as soon as he can, according to videos shared by the hospital where he is being treated.
"I'm going to go back in the water and I'm going to go in the same place where I got bitten. Done," said Joshua Reeder, 11, from his hospital bed. Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami shared several pre-produced video clips over the weekend featuring interviews with Joshua, his family, and the doctors treating him.
Joshua said in the video that he did not want the shark bite to be his worst-case scenario, and that he did not want it to hold him back either.
"I'm going to be fine. In two months, I'm going to get a prosthetic leg, a cool one," he said, adding that he was told his prosthetic leg would help him jump a bit higher when on the court because it will have a spring in it.
His family believes he was bit by a bull shark.