A MAN was captured smiling despite his leg being drenched in blood after surviving a bull shark attack that attempted to detach his foot.
Chance Armand was enjoying a swim while spearfishing when he noticed the shark’s figure and had to quickly escape for safety.
The shark clamped onto Armand’s leg on Saturday afternoon, roughly 20 miles away from the Pensacola Pass.
“By the time I realized the shark wasn’t going to veer off, it was already too late,” Armand shared with Fox affiliate WALA.
He mentioned to WALA that although he usually encounters sharks when fishing, he was caught off guard when this one attacked him.
“I didn’t really have the chance to do much other than put my knee between me and the shark,” Armand explained.
Armand said that after the shark bit his knee, it turned around and swam back down.
He then raced to the boat, where his friends pulled him up to help.
“We were able to fashion a makeshift tourniquet out of a t-shirt, a speargun band and a fillet knife,” Armand said.
Then the group took a picture of Armand, posing just minutes after his leg was nearly ripped off.
In the picture, Armand is grinning with his tongue out as he holds up his leg, which is covered in blood and has a tourniquet fashioned.
He said that he couldn’t feel pain from the shark bite at first, and that he could only feel pressure from the attack.
In a Facebook post, Armand also shared graphic pictures of the fresh wound around his left knee.
“Spicy Bullshark decided he wanted my fish too on my way up from a dive today,” Armand wrote in the post.
“Couldn’t have asked for better people to help me out in the moment.
“Love what we do but definitely a reminder to soak up every moment with your family and friends because [a] routine day can be your last.”
He also shared pictures of himself recovering in a hospital bed.
Armand said once the spearfishing group had cellphone service, they called 911.
First responders met the boat on the dock and he was quickly taken to a nearby hospital.
“By the grace of God, there was no tendon damage, no bone damage, no artery damage, it’s just one giant, gnarly flesh wound,” Armand said.
The fisherman said he will be sure to have a tourniquet ready the next time he takes to the sea.
