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U.S./World

Shark bites 9-year-old boy as he body surfed in Miami Beach

Associated Press
Monday, March 22, 2021 2:45 p.m. | Monday, March 22, 2021 2:45 p.m.

A woman said she and her 9-year-old son were in the water for just a few minutes when he was bitten by a 4-foot gray shark.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A 9-year-old Minnesota boy was bitten by a shark as he body surfed in Miami Beach over the weekend, his parents said.

Kristine Weiskopf told WPLG she and her son Jay were in the water for only a few minutes when the shark bit the boy.

“I was holding his hand the whole time and he was kind of body surfing a little bit and he had fallen on his stomach,” she said.

When she pulled him up, she said she saw a chunk of skin missing from his shoulder.

“He just said, ‘Ow,’ and I looked down and there was about a 4-foot gray shark just kinda swimming away, so I just scooped him up and ran him up the beach,” she said.

A Miami Beach Fire Rescue crew took the child to the hospital where surgeons closed the wound, his mother said.

“He’s such a great kid and we’re still in shock, but thankful. We thank God that he didn’t take his life. That he’s gonna be OK,” the child’s father, Ren Weiskopf told the TV station.