Pregnant woman saves husband from shark attack after seeing 'blood filling the water'

Man was bitten on the shoulder ‘almost immediately’ upon entering the water

Pregnant woman saves husband from shark attack in Florida (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A man who was bitten by a shark while snorkelling was rescued by his pregnant wife, who jumped out of the boat “without hesitation” after seeing “blood filling the water,” according to authorities.

Andrew Eddy, 30, his wife, Margot Dukes-Eddy, and her family were on a private boat Sunday in Sombrero Key Light, Florida, when the accident occurred.

According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Eddy, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, was bitten on the shoulder by a shark “almost immediately” upon entering the water.

"Dukes saw the shark's dorsal fin and then blood filling the water. Dukes, without hesitation, dove into the water and pulled Eddy to the safety of the boat," Deputy Christopher Aguanno wrote in his report, according to the Miami Herald.

At the time of the incident, most of the group was already in the water, according to the report.

After Eddy was pulled from the water, he was taken to Sombrero Beach around 10.30am before being airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, the sheriff’s office’s statement said.

Authorities said Eddy’s injury was “severe,” but that his condition as of Sunday afternoon was not immediately clear.

The Independent has contacted Dukes-Eddy for comment.

Witnesses described the shark that attacked Eddy as being eight to 10ft in length, with witnesses also reporting seeing a bull shark in the area earlier, according to the report. No one else was injured in the attack.

Following the rescue, Sheriff Rick Ramsay praised everyone who responded to the incident.

“This was a very rare medical crisis for the Florida Keys, but everyone came together - including those witnesses on the boat to 911 Communicators to all our emergency responders - in order to ensure this victim received life-saving care,” he said.

While sharks are common in the Florida Keys, the Miami Herald notes that shark attacks are not, with just 17 unprovoked shark bites reported since 1882, according to the latest information from the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File.

In 2020, there have been 28 reported shark attacks in the US, with 18 taking place in Florida, according to data from TrackingSharks.com.