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6h ago

Boy, 8, Undergoes Surgery After Shark Bite While Snorkeling Off Key Largo

A rapid tourniquet response led to an airlift to a Miami trauma center.

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Beach with palm trees, coconut trees, and white sand in the park, and warning signs about the presence of crocodiles in the ocean at John Pennekamp Reef Coral Park in Key Largo on the Keys highway in the state of Florida in the United States of America (USA) on July 30, 2025. (Photo by Jc Milhet / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by JC MILHET/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
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Overview

  • Authorities say the boy was bitten above the knee around 3:24 p.m. Monday near Horseshoe Reef while in the water with his father and a sibling.
  • A Horizon Divers vessel responded, applied two tourniquets, guided the family to Garden Cove Marina, and the child was flown by Trauma Star to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
  • Sheriff Rick Ramsay said the child underwent surgery Monday night; officials have not released his post‑surgery condition as of Tuesday.
  • Emergency dispatch audio described the injuries as significant with a “significant amount of blood loss” and noted the patient appeared pale.
  • The U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were notified, and while the species has not been confirmed, local fire officials said it is believed to be a reef shark.