Officials have released bodycam video and 911 call audio days after a Miami-Dade man was attacked by a bull shark while spearfishing in the Florida Keys.
The 20-year-old man, later identified as Kevin Blanco, was spearfishing with his friends off Marathon on Thursday when he was bitten in the leg by a shark around 3 p.m., Monroe County Sheriff's Office officials said.
Blanco was brought ashore in a private boat to the nearby Sunset Grille & Raw Bar. A Trauma Star helicopter landed on the Seven Mile Bridge to airlift him to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami.
"I just got blindsided by the side, my left outer thigh. I don't really remember the pain, but I remember the pressure and the force that he hit my leg with," Blanco told NBC6 from his hospital bed. "It felt like I got hit by an F150. And I felt the pressure slowly closing in on my leg. Everything was going in slow motion."
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Blanco is currently in stable condition. Pictures showed deep cuts in his thigh, but doctors said the shark didn't hit a major artery.
"The good thing is he didn't have any major artery bleeding or big vessel bleeding, so we know he can have a full recovery," said Dr. Antonio Marttos of Jackson South.
SHARK ATTACKS
Blanco said his friends, who are all freediving certified, had a lot to do with his survival.
"I saw the shark open its mouth and bite down into his leg," one friend Daniel Maduro told NBC6. "For a half second, I was in major shock, staring at him. And then I went into survival mode to help my friend."
Once Blanco's friends saw the bite, they helped lift him onto the boat and tied a tourniquet.
"We were 70 feet down, and I noticed he let out all his air, and he screamed," Maduro said. "My first instinct was to drop everything I had and grab him by the armpits and to help him get to the surface without blacking out."
While trying to help stop the bleeding, Blanco's friends called 911.
In the chilling audio from the calls released by MCSO, one of Blanco's friends can be heard saying: "We need an air rescue, please! It's really bad."
The caller can also be heard telling the operator several times that "there's a lot of blood" as the operator provides instructions for him to tie the tourniquet.
Blanco has had two surgeries so far and will need therapy as he recovers. He said he might hold off on spearfishing, but can't wait to go back underwater.
