Rare Shark Fatality Takes Life of Boogie Boarder

It's the first Mass. shark-attack death in 80 years
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 15, 2018 5:25 PM CDT
'Right Spot, Wrong Time': Shark Kills Boogie Boarder
People look out at the shore after a reported shark attack at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, Mass, on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.   (AP Photo/Susan Haigh)

A man was bitten by a shark Saturday in the water off a Cape Cod beach and died later at a hospital, becoming the state's first shark attack fatality in more than 80 years, the AP reports. The 26-year-old man from Revere succumbed to his injuries following the attack off Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet at around noon, Wellfleet Police Lt. Michael Hurley says. Joe Booth, a local fisherman and surfer, says he was on shore when he saw the man and his friend boogie boarding when the attack happened. He says he saw the man aggressively kick something behind him and a flicker of a tail from the water. He realized what was happening when the friend came ashore dragging his injured friend.

"I was that guy on the beach screaming, 'Shark, shark!" Booth says. "It was like right out of that movie Jaws. This has turned into Amity Island real quick out here." Booth says others on the beach attempted to make a tourniquet while others frantically called 911. Hayley Williamson, a Cape Cod resident and former lifeguard who was on the beach at the time, was in disbelief after the man was rushed into an ambulance. "We've been surfing all morning right here and they were just further down," she says of the two boogie boarders. "Right spot, wrong time, I guess." Life-saving measures were attempted on the beach before the man was taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was pronounced dead. The family of the victim was notified of the death but his name was not released.

(More shark attack stories.)

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