DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. – A 21-year-old man said he was bitten by a shark off Daytona Beach Shores over the weekend after he moved his pregnant fiancée toward shore and then fought to get the animal off him.
Jacorey High, who said he was visiting from Georgia, was released from the hospital Monday afternoon after spending two days being treated for injuries to his foot and ankle.
High said the couple was in about 4 feet of water around 5:30 p.m. Saturday when he felt a sudden bite.
“When that second wave came, I kind of floated on the waves, and that’s when it clamped down on my foot,” High said.
High said the shark was about the size of his leg. He said adrenaline took over and he focused first on getting his fiancée out of the water.
“As soon as I got bit, I kept shoving her toward the beach area, and then that’s when I started thinking about myself when I saw she was on the sand,” High said.
High said after he pushed the shark off his foot, it surfaced again and he believed it tried to bite his arm and then his other leg as he ran out of the water.
“Once I got him off my foot, it come up and tried to get my arm, so I had to push it away from me, and as I was running out it tried to get my other leg,” he said.
Once on shore, High said he realized how serious the injury was.
“A whole lot of blood just pouring out of my foot,” High said. “It ripped all the tendons in my foot and my ankle.”
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, Florida reported the most unprovoked shark bites in the U.S. in 2025. Volusia County accounted for six of those bites, representing more than half of the state’s total.
High said he expects to undergo physical therapy as he recovers, but said he would make the same choice again.
“That’s the person I love the most, and I would rather see her safe than me,” High said.
Volusia County Beach Safety has been contacted to determine what type of shark may have been involved. A response has not yet been received.