The first thing that crossed Jacorey High's mind when he felt a shark bite his foot was not the pain or fear, but getting his fiancée out of the water.
The 22-year-old man, a resident of Henry County, Georgia, survived a shark attack on Saturday while swimming in shallow waters at Daytona Beach, Florida. He is now recovering from surgery and recounts how he experienced the moments that changed his vacation.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta, High and his fiancée were near the Dunlawton beach access around 5:30 PM when a medium-sized shark bit him on his left foot and ankle.
"I immediately realized it was a shark by the way it bit my foot, but I was more concerned about getting my fiancée out of the water," he recalled.
The adrenaline was so strong that the young man barely felt the extent of his injuries.
"I didn't really feel it until I got to the hospital, when they started giving me medication," he explained.
He is recovering after surgery
High underwent surgery this Sunday to treat the wounds caused by the bite and is currently hospitalized in Florida.
Although the authorities classified the injuries as non-fatal, the recovery process is proving to be complicated.
"Every time I try to go to the bathroom or do anything else, I start to bleed from my leg and the pain intensifies because I have to hop around everywhere," he reported.
The young man and his family had arrived in Florida on July 22nd for a few days of vacation, a trip that ended up becoming a traumatic experience.
Even so, he remains optimistic and hopes to make a full recovery.
"I hope I didn't hurt anything important in my foot so I can go back to work," he said.
Daytona Beach, one of the areas with the highest number of shark attacks
The incident occurred in Volusia County, considered the shark bite capital of the world.
According to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) at the University of Florida, the region has recorded 351 unprovoked attacks since 1882, more than any other place in the world.
Only in 2025, the county accounted for six of the eleven unprovoked attacks documented throughout the state of Florida. Experts note that most of these incidents are of the "hit and run" type, in which the shark briefly bites and then moves away, making them rarely fatal.
The attack in High adds to other recent incidents in Florida. In June of this year, a civilian employee at the NSA Panama City naval base suffered serious injuries to both arms after being attacked by a shark, while that same month, there were reports of one of these animals among bathers in Miami Beach.
In July 2024, a 14-year-old teenager was also bitten on the foot while swimming in Daytona Beach Shores, in one of the four attacks reported in just one week in Volusia County.
The authorities have not disclosed how long Jacorey High will remain hospitalized or when he will be able to return to Georgia, as he continues to recover from an incident that, as he himself acknowledges, could have ended in a much more tragic way.
Related videos:
Filed under: