A young boy was mauled by a shark at a packed popular beach in Brazil on Sunday, losing his left leg in the attack and begging rescuers to not let him die, according to witnesses and footage.
The 11-year-old suffered severe injuries to the left side of his body when the beast attacked him at the hip at Piedade Beach in Jaboatao dos Guararapes around 1:40 p.m. local time.
Video shows a group of men pulling the boy’s motionless body to the shoreline and appearing to call for help from others nearby.
Another angle shows a large crowd of beachgoers surrounding the injured child as they desperately wait for medical services to arrive.
Local media identified the boy as Joao Lucas Castor Nemezio Sales, who was at the beach with his uncle, Aldemir Jose, and two other children.
“We were all in the sea before the attack, and I had just left the water and left the kids in the sea,” Jose said, his voice breaking as he shared the terrifying recollection.
“Then I heard a strange noise, and when I turned round, all I could see was blood. I didn’t think twice and raced into the water to get my nephew out.
“He was conscious and just kept begging me not to let him die.”
Lifeguards rendered aid to the severely injured child until Mobile Emergency Care Services paramedics arrived on scene and rushed him to nearby Aeronautics Hospital before transporting him to the much larger Hospital da Restauracao for surgery.
The boy is now conscious and in stable condition, according to local reports.
Fire officials pointed out that the attack happened in an area under a state decree warning about the heightened risk for shark attacks and that signs informing the public as much were installed along the beach.
“Where the boy was attacked, the sign informs that the area is subject to attacks and provides information on when swimming should be avoided,” said Executive Decretary of the State Committee for Monitoring Shark Incidents Danise Alves.
CEMIT said the mauling was the 83rd recorded shark incident in Pernambuco since the state began monitoring them in 1992 — and 24 of them were at Piedade Beach.
Sunday’s incident was the third shark encounter incident registered in Pernambuco this year, and their victims include a 13-year-old boy who was fatally attacked at Del Chifre Beach in Olinda, about 16 miles north of Jaboatao dos Guararapes.
