The attack happened over the weekend, on Sunday

Jun 8, 2015 13:28 GMT  ·  By

A young boy was attacked by a shark while swimming in the waters off the coast of Cocoa Beach in Florida, US, this past weekend, on Sunday. 

The boy survived the attack, and although he had to be rushed to a hospital in Orlando, doctors expect that he will recover from the injuries he sustained.

The boy was pulled from the water by a lifeguard

Reports say that, when the attack occurred around 11 a.m. local time, the 10-year-old boy was all by himself in the water. He wasn't too far from shore and the water only went up to his waist.

The first to notice that he was in trouble was a lifeguard who saw blood in the water and the child struggling to get back on land, DM tells us. The lifeguard jumped in to get the boy and managed to bring him back to shore.

Once on the beach, it became clear that the 10-year-old had been the victim of a shark attack. Thus, his rescuer and the other people who rushed to his aid say that the boy had a grave bit on the lower calf of his right leg that was bleeding profusely.

“It was definitely one of the worst ones that we've seen in our area that we've responded to, mainly because of the size of the bite,” Brevard County Ocean Rescue Assistant Chief Eisen Witcher commented in an interview.

As mentioned, the boy was taken to a hospital in Orlando, where doctors stopped the bleeding and patched up his wounds. Should all go well, he might just make a full recovery.

The shark that attacked him was probably a juvenile

It is believed that the fish responsible for this attack on the 10-year-old boy was a bull shark. Judging by the bite marks visible on the boy's calf and eyewitness reports, wildlife experts suspect that the shark was a juvenile about 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) long.

In the aftermath of the incident, Cocoa Beach was closed for about an hour. For now, it is unclear whether authorities are considering going in search of the shark responsible for the attack.

Atticus Gonzalez
Atticus Gonzalez

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

A bull shark is believed to be responsible for the attack
Atticus Gonzalez
Open gallery