A Florida dad of three fortunately survived a horrifying encounter with a shark in the Bahamas; however, it left him with multiple devastating injuries. The name of the person is Eddie Jarmakowicz. He is reportedly 52 years old and lives near Riviera Beach. He was on a three-day spearfishing trip near Grand Cay on August 16 when his marine life enjoyment was at its peak, but it didn’t take long before his dream trip turned into a nightmare.
Sources say that he dived about 20 to 25 feet of crystal-clear water, and he also speared a mutton snapper, and that’s when he felt the force of a strong predator. He told reporters, “I’d speared a mutton snapper. As I was swimming to retrieve the fish, I pulled it close to this (left) hand.”
According to CBS12, he further said, “I was swimming up to the surface and as I transitioned to look up for the boat, something hit my hand. I believe that my hand was all the way into the shark’s mouth by the lacerations that came up the forearm.”
The shark was later identified as a six-foot reef shark that clamped down on Eddie’s arm, coming from behind and mangled his hand and forearm. He explained, “My wrist was hanging down, and I could see flesh, so obviously that was a concern. I swam back to the boat, and the whole rescue started from then,” he explained.
As per reports, his friend were also present in the river and said that the shark snatched the fish and caught Eddie’s hand in the process. “It came from behind me, turned and grabbed the fish, and unfortunately got my hand as well,” Eddie said. “Then it swam behind me and my friend tried to poke it away with his spear a couple of times, and then it swam off.”
It approximately took 45 minutes for the desperate group to make it back to shore, according to WSVN. Eddie, on the contrary, lost a ton of blood by the time they reached land. A pilot quickly took him to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital, where doctors figured out the intensity of the injury, which was a bit severe indeed
“He had a major injury where we consider it a mangled extremity, multiple muscles that were exposed, tendons that were involved,” said trauma surgeon Dr. Aleta Paschal. “I could see down to his bone and his forearm. I slowly brought down the tourniquet just to see if the vascular flow was affected, and thankful to God it wasn’t.”
Eddie underwent a gruelling four-hour surgery to repair eight tendons in his arm, plus additional damage to his wrist. Amazingly, he was discharged the very next day, but doctors say he faces months of recovery and therapy.
Still, the near-death experience hasn’t scared him away from the sea. “To me this is being in touch with nature, God’s creation. I love being in the water. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s very calming. It’s relaxing despite my most recent adventure,” Eddie told CBS12. Doctors have called his survival a miracle, saying it’s astonishing he still has movement in his fingers. For Eddie, it’s another reason to be grateful and to keep diving back into the waters he loves.
