Jacorey High, 21, was walking in waist-deep water at Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, alongside his pregnant fiancée when he felt the first bite. The shark, about 1.20 meters long and gray, sank its teeth into his left foot twice in a row, without letting go.
His instinct was not to swim to safety; instead, he pushed his fiancée toward the shore before thinking about his own injury. As blood mixed with the water, the animal attacked again: it tried to bite one of his arms and his other leg as he ran toward dry land. High managed to hit it on the nose to free himself from the second attack.
He crawled to the lifeguard tower before collapsing. The tendons and ligaments in his ankle were destroyed; he now faces months of recovery. His fiancée did not suffer so much as a scratch, thanks to High’s bravery, as he put his life at risk to protect her and get her safely to shore.