N.C. shark attack 911 calls: 'His arm is gone!'

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY Network

Show Caption Hide Caption Shark attack 911 call: 'Her entire hand is gone' Dispatch recordings of 911 calls after two youths were maimed in separate shark attacks in North Carolina reveal a chaotic scene as bystanders and family members worked to keep the victims from bleeding out.





Dispatch recordings of 911 calls after two youths were maimed in separate shark attacks in North Carolina reveal a chaotic scene as bystanders and family members worked to keep the victims from bleeding to death.

"It looks like her entire hand is gone," a woman told a dispatcher in the first 911 call Sunday afternoon. She said the family used a boogie board cord as a tourniquet and held a dry towel to the girl's wrist.

After the attack on the second victim, about 90 minutes later and two miles away, a panicky woman reported: "His arm is gone!"



The 12-year-old girl, from Asheboro, N.C., and the 16-year-old boy, from Colorado Springs, Colo., are lucky to be alive, officials said at a press conference Monday. Authorities would not identify the victims, though local media outlets reported their names.

Both victims, who were on vacation, were airlifted with "life-threatening injuries" to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C., said Brian Watts, Brunswick County emergency services director.

The girl's left arm was amputated below the elbow and she also suffered a leg injury, he said. The boy's arm was amputated below the shoulder.

"The key to the success ... was the fact that bystanders on the beach with both patients did very quick first aid," Watts said.

Both were in good condition Monday morning, the hospital reported.

"I would like to thank everyone who has cared for my son, from the people who saved him through their quick actions on the beach, to the transport crew, emergency department team, doctors and staff here at New Hanover Regional Medical Center," the boy's mother said in a statement issued through the hospital. "I appreciate all their efforts."

The girl's family asked that no information be released about her, the hospital said.

Both victims were in waist-deep water about 20 yards offshore when they were attacked along a stretch of beach in Oak Island, about 30 minutes south of Wilmington. The girl was attacked first, about 4:10 p.m., near a popular pier, and the boy about 5:40 p.m., according to dispatch logs.

A witness described the attack on the boy to ABC News.

"He looked like he was waving at his friends," said Randy Milligan. "Then the shark just came out of the water and, like you snap your fingers, bit his whole arm off."

Officials could not say whether the same shark was involved in both attacks, and the size of the shark or sharks was not known.

After the attacks, deputies in boats and helicopters spotted a 7-foot shark in the vicinity, Sheriff John Ingram said. Another shark was spotted Monday morning.

Fire Chief Chris Anselmo said that Oak Island beaches were open Monday and that a police helicopter would be looking for sharks near the coast. Swimmers should be cautious, he added.

"No way that we are going to stop people from going into the water. ... (We) just advise people to be careful and alert," he said.

Swimmers should remember to stay in groups, refrain from swimming at dawn and dusk and stay away from areas where people are fishing, like piers, according to Jen Skoy, a biologist at the South Carolina Aquarium.

The attacks on Sunday come just days after another incident in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., where a 13-year-old girl was bitten by a shark.

Skoy said when sharks bite humans it's "more of a mistaken identity thing."

"It's usually not a case of a shark thinking, 'I'm going to bite a human,'" she says. "Just a wild animal in their habitat that thinks something might be good to eat and realizes it isn't."

Contributing: Michael Winter