Boy, 10, Critical After Shark Attack

A shark attacked a 10-year-old boy swimming off the Virginia coast Saturday, releasing the boy’s leg only when his father hit the shark on the head, officials said. The boy was hospitalized in critical condition.

David Peltier, 10, was bitten as he swam about 50 feet from shore in about 4 feet of water, said Ed Brazle, division chief for the city’s Emergency Medical Services.

A shark about 8 feet long grabbed the boy off Sandbridge Beach, witnesses said.

David’s father, Richard Peltier, was surfing nearby and tried to pry open the shark’s mouth, Brazle said. Peltier carried his son back to shore, where witnesses and lifeguards administered first aid until paramedics arrived.

David sustained bites along his leg and inside his left thigh, witnesses said. His leg was not severed. Richard Peltier was treated at a hospital for a hand injury.

The boys’ two brothers, who also had their surfboards in the water, cried hysterically throughout the ordeal, witnesses said.

Peltier lives in Virginia Beach. His son lives in Richmond. Sandbridge is a remote coastal community just south of Virginia Beach.

Brazle said it was the first reported shark attack in the area in the past 30 years but one of a spate of attacks in the U.S. in recent weeks.

In July, an 8-year-old boy was attacked by a bull shark on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Jessie Arbogast’s arm was severed and he lost nearly all his blood. The arm was reattached, but Jessie remains in a light coma.

Of the 40 shark attacks worldwide this year, 28 were in Florida waters, according to the International Shark Attack File, based at the University of Florida. None of the attacks was fatal.

Last year, there were 79 shark attacks worldwide, 51 in the U.S.