16-year-old makes quick decision to rescue swimmer bitten by shark at Jacksonville Beach

JAX BEACH, Fla. — Action News Jax has a new video that shows a swimmer being rescued after they were bitten by a shark in Jacksonville Beach.

It shows the heroic moments a 16-year-old helped rescue the swimmer.

“He went underwater and started waving his arms and yelling for help,” witness Nadya Hicks.

On Saturday, witness Nadya Hicks can be seen helping a man whose foot was bitten by a shark near 10th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach.

Hicks said she was surfboarding near him and once he went under, she made a split-second decision to help out.

“Since there was no one nearby I kind of had to make a decision to go over there and I didn’t really think about it,” Hicks said. “He was struggling in the water and I didn’t want to know what would happen if I didn’t.”

The decision to paddle over and give the man her surfboard helped bring him onto shore after lifeguards came out, saying the swimmer’s foot was limp.

“He kind of just grabbed onto the surfboard and I dragged him in,” Hicks said, “Flesh was like kind of coming out of the top so I think he was bitten from the bottom so I think it punctured through the middle of his foot.”

She says several other people helped with boogieboards and when they brought him to the hospital.

Beachgoers on Sunday like Mohmmad Aldawoudi said hearing about it is a little unsettling.

“You don’t know where you’re going you’re just swimming and swimming but you don’t see anything,” he said.

Others who came out like Shawn Hoyle said it doesn’t bother him.

“Not very much but I don’t really go in water that much,” he said.

For Hicks, she said it all happened in the blink of an eye.

“I just thought it was crazy how fast it was and how after if you showed up at the beach just then you would’ve had no idea what had happened,” Hicks.

The witness in the bite told Action News Jax she hopes that man has a speedy recovery.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.