Dad of 3 Sustains ‘Major’ Injuries in Attack by 6-Foot Shark While Spearfishing

A fisherman and father of three from Florida is recovering after a shark attack in The Bahamas left him with major injuries.

Eddie Jarmakowicz, of Riviera Beach, was spearfishing in the Grand Cay on Aug. 16, when he was bitten by a shark, according to WPBF.

The 52-year-old was fishing and snorkeling in around 20 to 25 feet of water when the attack occurred and saw him sustain serious injuries to his left hand, per 25 WPBF, CBS12 and WSVN.

Jarmakowicz, who was on a three-day fishing trip at the time, was with three others when the incident took place, according to 25 WPBF.

“I’d speared a mutton snapper. As I was swimming to retrieve the fish, I pulled it close to this (left) hand,” he told CBS12. “I was swimming up to the surface and as I transitioned to look up for the boat, something hit my hand. I believe that my hand was all the way into the shark’s mouth by the lacerations that came up the forearm.”

He added, “I kind of pulled back and then pushed forward. I lost the fish I had speared and never saw the shark that attacked me.”

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Jarmakowicz revealed that despite not seeing the shark, “my wrist was hanging down, and I could see flesh, so obviously that was a concern. I swam back to the boat, and the whole rescue started from then,” per 25 WPBF.

The other person that was in the water at the time revealed that the shark was a six-foot long reef shark.

“It came from behind me, turned and grabbed the fish, and unfortunately got my hand as well, and then it swam behind me and my friend tried to poke it away with his spear a couple of times, and then it swam off,” Jarmakowicz told 25 WPBF.

It took the group 45 minutes to return to the shore following the incident, before Jarmakowicz was flown to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, Florida, by a local pilot, per WSVN.

A  tourniquet had been used to wrap up Jarmakowicz’s hand for over four hours and the fisherman had lost a liter of blood, 25 WPBF reported.

“He had a major injury where we consider it a mangled extremity, multiple muscles that were exposed, tendons that were involved,” Trauma surgeon Dr. Aleta Paschal told the outlet. “I could see down to his bone and his forearm. I slowly brought down the tourniquet just to see if the vascular flow was affected, and thankful to God it wasn’t.”

Jarmakowicz then underwent emergency surgery, with the operation taking over four hours, CBS12.

“I believe eight tendons that needed to be repaired in his forearm. There were also smaller tendons, because the shark had another bite towards the wrist,” Paschal told 25 WPBF.

The husband and father was discharged from hospital the following day and is set to have several months of physical therapy, per WPBF and CBS12.

Medical professionals have said it’s a miracle that Jarmakowicz survived the attack and still has mobility in his fingers.

And despite the incident, Jarmakowicz has no plans to stop exploring the ocean.

“To me this is being in touch with nature, God’s creation. I love being in the water. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s very calming. It’s relaxing despite my most recent adventure,” he told CBS12.