Posted on 10/22/2010 9:23:00 PM PDT by Kartographer
A bodyboarder killed by a shark at a Central California beach cried out to his friend for help as the shark flashed out of the water, bit into his leg and pulled him under in a tide of blood, the friend said Friday.
Matthew Garcia was surfing 2 feet from his friend, 19-year-old Lucas Ransom, when the shark attacked, he said. The whole incident lasted seconds.
"When the shark hit him, he just said, 'Help me, dude!' He knew what was going on," Garcia told The Associated Press. "It was really fast. You just saw a red wave and this water is blue — as blue as it could ever be — and it was just red, the whole wave."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
A lot of my sons’ friends surf. This hits home and is just scary. RIP, and prayers for the family.
One of the sad commentaries on our times when people feel that just because they’re behind their keyboard, they can make cold comments about a tragic death. The ONE thing I don’t like about the internet....Sounds like this guy was going to be a good man.
Prayers up. Lord have mercy on his soul.
I saw the FOX report and the bite out of the surfboard when I typed the above comment. I’m horrified.
I would never surf (or even go out very far swimming) in a place with so many sharks. I remember the news story of the young female surfer returning to the surfboard after losing an arm to a shark, and thinking that was a very stupid person (this is not a reflection on this man’s death; this girl had already lost an arm - and almost her life - and was still going to surf). I would be surprised if his friends could ever try it again after seeing this happen.
Here in NJ the ocean is too dirty for sharks; its only fit for humans to swim in...
Excellent point. I think you are spot on that this is what is going on and it is absolutely weather related. We that go out on boats in the Santa Barbara sound see great whites and whales as part of the scenery. Always amazed as is how very close and how very populated our waters are with the big boy fish. They love the Santa Barbara waters and love to mate here. Can't say I blame 'em.
Very sad about the kid. Albeit his mom did say in another article, he was a great kid and in a very good place in his life.
He died doing something he loved and was hanging with his best bud. Tough ending, shocking, and painful and clearly he had so much in front of him. Yet. Not a bad place and time to go. Better than being offed by some asshole on a cell phone on the LA freeways or someone shooting him or attacking him for no reason except to get a kick out of it. At least the shark used his limb for food.
Blessings to the family and his friend.
I too have a tendency to not participate in activities like riding my bike on the shoulder of most roads or swimming, kayaking, boarding in shark populated waters, but the truth is we are going to go sometime and if those activities pull one's chain, why not. We can go at any time for any reason. Often not in places or circumstances that are fun or of our choosing.
Driving on freeways and driving cars are much more risky but we get on them and in them every single day (most of us.)
Muddy near-shore runoff areas, during overcast conditions following a storm are the most dangerous times to swim in shark country.
SoCal has just been through the must significant rain event in numerous months.
The swimmer inadvertently, picked the very worst time to be in the water.
I know. Very sad. I was also surprised how the span of the bite was only 12 inches. Long, thin . . . but hell of a strong bite!! Wow. Poor kid. Let's hope those natural pain killers and shock kept him from feeling much.
I was once in a car wreck on a seven lane freeway where the truck I was in spun around with my side pointing toward traffic that was zooming toward me and all around me going 80+ mph. (Here in S. California they don't often slow down for wrecks.)
I remember praying, while anticipating what I thought was inevitable--getting body slammed by a fast moving vehicle (remember this was after one wreck already that I had just survived.) I prayed for God to take me before I felt the pain. The anticipation of it was much more scary. Never did happen. Thank God.
Both of my sons have been avid surfers since their early teens. The youngest one surfs between Maine and Rhode Island in the dead of winter. The oldest surfs the CA. coast. I swear it’s an addiction.
Interesting point. The entire western Pacific has been cooler this year, not just onshore. We had almost no summer this year — a few days where we didn’t even hit 60 in the Bay Area.
Saw the same thing in the Keys in January - they had record low temps for 2-3 weeks. Water dropped several degrees but near the shoreline, stayed warmer due to solar heating. Fishing was crazy good - as the smaller fish moved toward shore, so did the big feeders.
Wow, definitely...Thank God!
I suddenly felt wrong and I told Mike we have to leave the water, at 830am Mike called me and said Come to my room.................His room looked out over the water from the 6th story.
A hurricane was off shore, the place was loaded with sharks.
I have never forgot that sudden feeling of being hunted.
I am a firm believer in that ‘little voice’ in the back of your head. It’s just learning to listen and figuring out what it’s saying that we need to relearn.
That little voice is pretty powerful!
Good points, but for years now the first thing I do when I get in my car is put on my seatbelt. I don’t drive if I can avoid it, but when I do I’m belted & sober...
me too Irish. Me too. And us both being Irish, the sober part is a miracle. LOL ;-D. Blessings on the road my FRiend.
Thanks; to you, too.
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