On his 15th birthday, a South Florida teen was bitten by a shark and lived to tell the tale.
Lucas Cruz was celebrating his birthday by going lobster diving with his family and friends when he got attacked.
"When I got bit I didn't nearly know the severity of it," Cruz recalled.
Dr. Mark McKenney, Chief of Trauma at Kendall Regional Center, said the shark bite was so severe he didn't know if Cruz would survive.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
"The total bite was over a foot in length and the teeth were about one to two inches each ... and he was in profound shock and kind of running in and out of consciousness, the kind of shock you often die from," McKenney said.
Quick thinking from the boat captain, who put on tourniquets on both of Cruz's legs, and from the medical team as he was airlifted to the trauma center.
"He was missing about a third of his calf, the middle third of his calf was shark food," McKenney said.
Local
Cruz had also lost 70% of his body's blood. Once doctors stabilized him, he went into surgery.
When Cruz woke up from surgery, he first saw his leg.
"I saw I had the leg still, so that was a good sign," he said.
And now, just after six weeks since the shark bite, Cruz is up and about with a leg brace and a wheelchair.
"I think I'm definitely still going to go back in the water, but I just got to be more careful," he said.
Cruz still has another year of physical therapy ahead of him after numerous surgeries on both legs. He's back to school, but sports will have to wait for now.
