STUART, Fla. — The lifeguard who rescued a shark attack victim off the Florida coast talked to the media for the first time on Thursday. The injured kite-boarder that he pulled from the bloodied water later died at a hospital.
It was the first deadly shark attack in Florida in five years. Stephen Schafer, 38, was kite-boarding in Stuart on Wednesday when a shark suddenly attacked him. The area had been swarming with sharks over the past few days.
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"We noticed a kite-boarder had gone down in the water," said Dan Lund, lifeguard.
Initially, a lifeguard noticed someone in trouble, but at the time he did not know why. That is when 47-year-old Daniel Lund decided to take action.
"I took the rescue board and proceeded to paddle out. The seas were pretty rough that day," recalled Lund.
Lund struggled through six-foot waves to get to Schafer. Once he got clos,e the situation quickly became more intense.
"There was a lot of blood in the water," described Lund. "You could see some other sharks were in the area."
Lund's fears quickly became reality.
"When I was probably about within maybe 15 yards or 20 yards of him he was telling me he had been bitten by a shark," said Lund.
Lund says Schafer had bite wounds on his leg and backside, and also had defensive wounds on his hands.
Lund pulled Schafer back to the coastline. Once on land he was rushed to a hospital where he later died.
The surfer's friends say they still cannot believe what happened.
"Something that would never, ever happen would happen to such a great guy," said Teague Taylor, victim's friend.
Authorities and shark experts are investigating what type of shark was involved, and whether more than one shark bit the victim.
The last fatal shark attack in Florida happened in 2005 off the Walton County coast in the panhandle. Jamie Daigle, 14, from Louisiana was killed while vacationing with a friend's family.
According to the University of Florida, there have been only 50 documented fatal shark attacks in the United States.
WFTV
