Shark attacks teen off Ormond Beach

17-year-old bitten on shoulder, taken to hospital

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Seabreeze High School football star Raushod Floyd is recovering from a shark bite that he sustained while swimming off Ormond Beach on Labor Day.

[FLASHBACK:  Raw video shows shark near surfer off Volusia coast]

"When it hit me, it just like hit me in my neck and I just fell underwater," said Floyd.

Floyd, 17, is the wide receiver at Seabreeze High. He said it was the hardest hit he's ever taken.

Floyd said he had no idea what hit him until he saw the blood and the teeth marks left behind. He was then rushed to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach where he received 30 stitches.

"I just looked at my shoulder and I just saw blood dripping down out of my shoulder," said Floyd.

Floyd said he and five other football players had just finished an early practice and were in chest deep water Monday afternoon when the shark jumped out of the ocean.

"Then I pointed to my friend and I was like, 'man, I'm bleeding,' and we just started running off the beach," said Floyd.

Floyd's parents were in Haines City at a Labor Day family gathering when they got the scary news.

"Oh man, when I heard that I was just like, 'we got to hit this highway and get to him,'" said Michael Carter, Sr., Floyd's father.

"He didn't worry about his cut, his wound or what happened. 'Can I play this week?' That's the first thing he said," said Quennedda Carter, Floyd's mom.

At Halifax Health, they received the good news that the bite did not tear any muscle, ligaments or nerves, and Floyd could be back on the field in as little as seven days. One place he won't be going back anytime soon is the beach.

"Absolutely not," joked Floyd's mom. "He can go to a splash park."

Despite playing football his entire life, Floyd said this is the first time he's ever had to have stitches or be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

He will miss this Friday's game against Flagler Palm Coast High School, but Floyd is hoping he'll be able to play after that.

Meanwhile, a 9-year-old boy was bitten by a shark Sunday in St. Augustine.  He was taken to a hospital for stitches but was expected to be okay.


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