Kevin Blanco went spearfishing with friends near Marathon when a bull shark clamped down on his leg, twice. Now, the 20-year-old is back walking.
A 20-year-old Miami-Dade man is speaking out just three months after an encounter with a bull shark that landed him in the hospital with critical injuries.
The shark bite came within centimeters of a main artery in Kevin Blanco’s thigh, but today he is back home in Kendall, walking on his own.
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“Technically, he bit me in the perfect spot because I have full use of my leg,” said Blanco. “I have minor tissue damage, minor nerve damage and minor muscle damage.”
On May 18th, Blanco went spearfishing 70 feet underwater with friends in Marathon when a bull shark clamped down on his leg, twice.
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His friends brought him to the surface and wrapped a tourniquet around his leg until EMS crews could get him to the hospital.
He was later brought ashore in a private boat to the nearby Sunset Grille & Raw Bar. A Trauma Star helicopter landed on the Seven Mile Bridge to airlift him to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami.
“I could not be here…I could have one leg,” he said. “I run through the whole thing and it’s just like, wow.”
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NBC6 interviewed Blanco from his hospital bed a day after the incident. At the time, it was unclear how long recovery would take.
Blanco's father, a fire captain with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, believes this story was close to having an alternate ending.
“We thank God every day for him still being here,” said Omar Blanco. “I know people who didn’t make it and I know how close we were to being in a situation like those people.”
Blanco says he has a greater respect for swimming in shark territory, but it’s only a matter of time before he gets back into the water.
“100% will be back out there,” he said. “I haven’t spearfished yet. I will once I get approval from the household.”
