The wounds of a man treated at the Ryder Trauma Center over the weekend were consistent with shark bites, the doctor who treated him said Tuesday.
"While in the trauma bay we found the two ends of the blood vessels basically just clamped them off, tied them off and then took right into the operating room," said Dr. Howard Lieberman during a news conference Tuesday.
The patient, who didn't want to be identified, was expected to be able to go home to his wife and daughter Tuesday. He came to the hospital in shock and bleeding profusely below his right knee from the incident in the waters off South Beach.
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He has some numbness and tingling in the area of the wounds but is up and walking.
"It's very difficult to say I mean I've been here for four years. I've seen about three shark bites only. So, I'm far from an expert on shark bites, but I mean it's a pretty significant bite. It went most of the circumference around his calf. With my limited knowledge, I would say it's probably consistent with the other shark bites that I've seen," said Lieberman.
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According to Lieberman, the man was in about waist-deep waters and next thing he knew he felt something at his leg.
Lieberman said the man required blood transfusions.
"We didn't do a complete air tight closure because he is still at risk for infection there's a lot of aquatic bacteria especially in salt water," he said.