A Florida man who was bitten by a shark in Key West says he owes his life to the quick actions of bystanders who happened to be nurses and medical personnel.
David Daniel of Silver Springs was walking in shallow water after fishing on August 23 when he noticed a shark nearby, according to Click Orlando. The water was calm, and he was close to shore, but the encounter turned deadly in an instant.
“I turned around and saw it swimming along the coastline of a sandbar. Then he turned and just beelined right for me like a movie,” Daniel recalled of the tense moment.
Daniel estimates the shark was six or seven feet long. He said they were “looking eyeball to eyeball” as the creature attacked, biting a chunk out of his foot and causing what the Key West Police Department described as an “arterial bleed,” according to Keys News.
But help was closer than he could have imagined. As Daniel bled in the water, the occupants of a nearby boat docked up and rushed to assist him. They turned out to be nurses and medics, and they knew exactly how to respond.
“By the grace of God, I was lucky enough the boat next to us docked up and was full of nurses and medics,” Daniel said. He described them as “like angels coming out of nowhere.”
The group applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, a critical measure that likely prevented Daniel from bleeding out before emergency responders arrived.
Daniel was later flown to a hospital in Miami-Dade County, according to Click Orlando. He has since undergone two surgeries and is now recovering, per WSVN-TV.
The attack has left Daniel facing a long road to recovery. A GoFundMe campaign set up to help with medical expenses says Daniel is expected to be unable to walk for six to eight weeks and will need extensive physical therapy. Because he does not have health insurance, the sudden emergency has created an “overwhelming financial burden” on top of the physical and emotional toll of recovery.
The fundraising page describes Daniel as an exterminator who has lived in Silver Springs for the past decade, originally from Glenside, Pennsylvania.
“Dave, originally from Glenside, PA, has called Silver Springs, FL home for the past 10 years. He works hard as an exterminator and is the kind of person who supports himself and those around him,” the GoFundMe reads.
Donations are being accepted to cover medical expenses, physical therapy, living expenses, and other costs while Daniel is unable to work.
Despite the traumatic experience, Daniel says he is feeling better about the situation now as he recovers.
The incident highlights both the unpredictability of shark encounters and the importance of immediate medical intervention in the moments after an attack.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/health/2026/08/30/video-florida-man-says-angels-rushed-to-help-him-during-shark-attack/