Florida shark bite victim recounts attack at New Smyrna Beach: ‘I couldn't believe my eyes'

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. - A man bitten by a shark at New Smyrna Beach on the Fourth of July is now recovering. 

Connor Baker was playing football in knee-high water at New Smyrna Beach when a shark bit his foot on the Fourth of July. 

"All of a sudden I felt something stab the top and bottom of my foot," Baker said. "My first instinct was I yanked my foot out, and then just kind of took off."

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Baker’s friend helped pull him out of the ocean and his girlfriend Haley Moore, who is a nurse, ran over to them. 

"It's so crazy. I just looked down, and I couldn't believe my eyes," said Moore. "I'm a nurse, but like, I've never seen anything like that before."

But, Moore wasted no time jumping into action. She ran to get help from a deputy at the beach and then grabbed a towel to stop the bleeding. 

"I was holding pressure to try to stop the bleeding. And then, another guy on the beach, he said he was an EMT, and he helped me," she explained. "And then the sheriff, he had an actual tourniquet, and he put it on his leg. It was crazy."

Baker was rushed to the hospital as he ruptured four tendons and needed surgery. The surgeons at Halifax Health saved his foot. Baker is from Ohio and was visiting Central Florida on vacation. He's now home and recovering, but won’t be able to walk for 6–8 weeks. However, with physical therapy following that, he should be OK. 

"I feel lucky that I should be able to be back to normal at some point, maybe for a while, but better than never being back to normal," he said. 

Baker wasn’t the only person bitten by a shark at New Smyrna Beach this Fourth of July weekend. On Friday, a 26-year-old man from Sarasota was bitten on his left foot by a shark.