Michael, his 44-year-old father, told The Sun, “My kid may have been murdered. He said that he and his family had seen sharks swimming among a group of people in a lagoon, a sight straight out of Jaws.
Unaware that the nurse sharks were being fed at the time, Mr. Downer’s daughters, Finley, 8, Lily, 9, and Emily, 12, made the decision to enter the enclosure and play with the creatures. Mr. Downer continued: “Suddenly I heard a horrified cry and saw hundreds around Finley. Blood was everywhere. His limb was missing in places. I don’t want to die, Dad, he kept pleading. I don’t want to enter heaven, Dad.
The family had gone out on their own without a guide and visited a lagoon that wasn’t included in the trip, according to the tour provider, Exuma Escapes.
His sister pulled Finley from the water, and he was then transported on a golf buggy to a local medical facility. Then, in order to get his kid to a hospital where he would have surgery, his father had to pay for a £2,000 ticket to Nassau.
After the incident, the eight-year-old is currently in a wheelchair and is expected to have permanent scarring.
Nurse sharks may grow to a maximum size of 7.5 to 9.5 feet and weigh 200 to 330 pounds. They are bottom dwellers that move slowly, and often pose little threat to people.
They do, however, have incredibly powerful jaws that are packed with hundreds of tiny fangs, and they will bite defensively if divers stomp on them or harass them.
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