J.D. Gallop, Florida Today Published 7:16 p.m. ET Sept. 25, 2019 | Updated 7:16 p.m. ET Sept. 25, 2019
Satellite Beach surfer Logan Radd, 13, is unfazed by 19 stitches from a shark bite, and plans to hit the waves as soon as his wound heals. Tim Shortt, FLORIDA TODAY
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MELBOURNE, Fla. – Logan Radd has 19 stitches and a story to tell.
The 13-year-old Satellite Beach surfing enthusiast was out with family about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, paddling in the Atlantic waves. Suddenly he felt something snag at his foot.
“I was coming in and he bit my foot, and then he bit it again. It was probably a 2-foot shark,” said Logan, recalling how he made it to shore in the knee-high surf.
On the heel of his left foot are two gaping wounds.
His mother, Jennifer Radd, who was watching when she saw her son jerk his feet from the water and into the air before seeing a back-tipped shark nearby, quickly took him to a Melbourne hospital for treatment.
“He just told me, ‘Mommy, don’t cry,” Radd recalled. “He was so brave, just telling me he was going to be OK. The bites looked pretty gnarly and got him 19 stitches. He wasn’t in pain until about 2:30 a.m. It’s just the worst thing a mother could go through.”
It was the first reported shark bite of the year at a Brevard County beach.
Sharks frequent Florida’s beaches, cruising along the shoreline, chasing bait fish and causing temporary closures in some areas, especially during the summer months.
“It’s been fairly quiet,” said Brevard County Ocean Lifeguard Division Chief Eisen Witcher. “From our standpoint, we have not had any shark-related incidents in the guarded areas.”
In 2018, the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack file reported 66 shark attacks, 32 of which were in the United States.
Half of those incidents took place in Florida. Four people were bitten off the shores of Brevard County in 2018, Witcher said.
Shark attacks: How to avoid them and whether shark repellents really work
Lifeguards warn beachgoers to avoid getting in the water at dusk or dawn, since those are active times for sharks. They also advise residents to watch out for bait fish or small silver fish that typically attract sharks.
Logan, who travels frequently to participate in surfing contests, recently finished third in the Boys Under 14 competition at the ESA Easterns Surfing Championships in Nags Head, North Carolina, while representing the Central Florida surf team.
Tuesday, the teen hit the beach early with his family and coach.
“He had been out surfing all day,” Radd said of her son. “You hear about these things but you never think it will happen to someone you love,” she said.
For now, the home-schooled teen, who besides hitting the waves, loves to read, has been sidelined as he recuperates from his close encounter with a shark.
Doctors took X-rays of his heel to ensure the teen’s ligaments were not damaged. No shark tooth fragments were found.
However, the lure of paddling out on the waves at sunrise remains strong for Logan.
“I’m going back in as soon as I get the stitches out,” he said. “Sharks are out there. I guess it was just my time to get bit. It’s all a part of the water.”
Follow J.D. Gallop on Twitter @JDGallop
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