Teen Surfer Attacked by Shark in New Jersey
A 15-year-old, second-timer surfer was attacked by a shark in New Jersey.
Maggie Drozdowski was catching waves near 109th Street in Stone Harbor, when she felt the beast chomp her leg. "I felt something around my foot, and it pulled me down a little bit," Maggie told Fox. "I shook my leg as hard as I could to get it off, but it just wouldn't."
"I went over the wave, and she went under it, she screamed, and I turned around because I thought she was drowning or something, but she got up, and she said, ‘I think something bit me,’" said Sarah O’Donnell, Maggie’s friend who was in the water during the attack.
Medics were called, and Maggie was rushed to the hospital. Luckily, the wounds weren’t too bad. She received a total of six stitches. She also credits her wetsuit as a deterrent from the attack being more serious.
The size and species of shark remains unknown.
And, of course, being only her second time surfing, Maggie was stunned by the chances of such a rare incident happening to her.
"I'm just in shock. I just thought that wouldn't be something that would ever happen to me because I watched all the Jaws movies and stuff, and I thought it was a joke," Maggie said.
Most surfers go their whole lives without getting bit; Maggie was bitten on just her second day. Maybe she’s…lucky? Well, lucky the situation wasn’t dire, at least.
According to research from Fox, “The last unprovoked shark attack in New Jersey was off the coast of Ventnor in 2017.”
Following the attack, officials did not make any beach closures in New Jersey.
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