NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Entering the waters in the “shark bite capital of the world” is a risk you have to be willing to take.
Brandon Boncore, 22, said it’s a risk he’s taken hundreds of times but on Monday, he felt his luck run out.
“I felt it, and I was just, like, ‘Oh crap, not me,’” he said.
Boncore now has several stitches in his foot where a shark left a big gash.
Before the bite, it was a great surf session at the North Beach – catching several foot waves and seeing a few shark fins.
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“Actually my first wave, I saw two or three right under me. I just saw a couple of shadows. In New Smyrna, that’s kind of normal,” he said.
When he was done and paddling back in, though, he ended up landing right on top of the shark.
“It bit me right in the foot and I just took my right foot and kicked it off. I jumped on my board and looked back and first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, thank God. My toe’s there,’” he said.
Thankfully, Boncore said he was surfing next to a paramedic who called 911 and jumped into help until EMS got on scene.
Boncore said when the bite happens, it doesn’t feel like most people would think.
“There was just a lot of pressure on my left foot,” he said.
This was the fourth bite of the year in Volusia County.
It’s a club Boncore now joins, along with his friend Chris Pospisil who was bit in New Smyrna two weeks ago.
“Same exact spot. I was surfing that day, too, which is even more wild,” said Boncore.
The college golfer, avid skater, and lover of the water said he has to stay off his foot for a month, but said he’ll be back.
“I know the risks, but I love it so much that I just want to go surf,” he said.
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