14-year-old West Virginia boy bitten by shark in North Carolina

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A 14-year-old boy from West Virginia was bitten by a shark as he was swimming at a beach in North Carolina. 

Blayne Brown of Cabell County, West Virginia, was bit on the leg and ankle by a shark at Topsail Beach Access No. 4 in Pender County, North Carolina, on Sunday, The Herald-Dispatch reported. The boy was reportedly swimming in waist-deep water at around noon with a friend when he was bitten. Brown was about 30 or 40 feet away from the shore, the newspaper reported. 

The newspaper reported that beachgoers helped provide medical attention to the teen before first responders arrived and took him to Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune. 

“I didn’t know what it was,” he told The Herald-Dispatch. “I just felt something that hurt a lot.”

He underwent surgery and a specialist was brought in because the injury was more extensive than doctors originally thought, the newspaper reported. 

Brown returned home to West Virginia on Tuesday, though his mother said he may need another surgery.

The Associated Press reported that there were 69 unprovoked shark bites worldwide last year, and 10 of those were fatal, according to the International Shark Attack File. That was higher than the recent average of six deaths per year.