INJURED – 19 August 2007 – Islamorada, Florida Keys, United States – swimmer attacked

In a few sketchy media reports -- Chris Olstad, 52, was reported bitten on the side of his torso by a shark while swimming his regular swimming route from Founders Park (Islamorada, Florida Keys, United States) to a sail boat about a half a mile offshore. Olstad was swimming at night around 9.15pm and on his way back when the shark bit him. He suffered extensive wounds to the side of his torso.

The incident took place on Sunday night 19 August 2007.

He managed to get back to shore and walked 100 metres to a county sheriff’s department, passing out three times along the way and sustaining cuts and bruises to his head. From the sheriff’s department substation he was taken by ambulance to nearby Mariner's Hospital and later airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

Olstad later told the Miami Herald he believed it was a shark.

''I felt a bump and a shake and felt the head of an animal,'' he said.

He said when he got back to shore, no one was a around. As he walked along the beach toward the sheriff's Islamorada substation, located at the entrance to Founder's Park, he passed out three times.

Sgt. Tom Kiffney, who spoke with Olstad at Mariner's Hospital, said the man's wounds were extensive, from under his arm to his waist, with a large chunk of his flesh missing.

Olstad said he’d been swimming there for eight years. “This is a pretty rare event,” he said.

Sources:

Miami Herald

Orlando Sentinel

Local10