{"id":385151,"date":"2026-08-30T08:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/385151\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T08:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:12:13","slug":"florida-man-attacked-by-7-foot-shark-said-hed-100-be-dead-without-help-of-nearby-boaters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/385151\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida man attacked by 7-foot shark said he’d ‘100% be dead’ without help of nearby boaters"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man who was savagely attacked by a seven-foot shark in Florida said he would \u201c100% be dead\u201d if it wasn\u2019t for nearby boaters providing life-saving assistance after the gruesome mauling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While fishing in shallow water at a sandbar in Key West, Fla. on Aug. 23, Dave Daniel, 43, was viciously bitten by what he believes to be a six-or seven-foot nurse shark, according to an online fundraiser.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI looked down in the water and there was so much blood in the water,\u201d Daniel recalled to NBC News<\/a> of the horrifying attack. <\/p>\n

Dave Daniel, 43, was attacked by a shark during a fishing trip in Florida on Aug. 23. gofundme<\/p>\n

Daniel said he was attacked by a nurse shark which he believes was six to seven feet in length. Subphoto \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Daniel, a Sunshine State resident, said he noticed the large beast in the water and tried to move away but it suddenly \u201cbeelined\u201d toward him \u201cface-to-face\u201d and brutally latched onto his legs.<\/p>\n

After the bloody mauling, Daniel remembered thinking, \u201cthere\u2019s no way you\u2019re getting off this beach, bud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSitting on the beach, bleeding out, I was making peace with myself saying \u2018if it\u2019s your time to go, it\u2019s your time to go,’\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But then Daniel saw two nearby boaters, who happened to be medical staff, racing over to provide assistance \u201clike angels coming out of nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for them, I would 100% be dead on the beach,\u201d Daniel told WSVN<\/a>. \u201cGrace to God that they were medically trained people and nurses and EMTs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel has undergone two surgeries following the brutal mauling. gofundme<\/p>\n

Nearby boater and trained nurse Courtney McMurrary told NBC that she just happened to be in \u201cthe right place [at the] right time\u201d when Daniel was mauled by the huge shark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he and I were meant to be there,\u201d the good Samaritan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The boaters provided life-saving support while waiting for the US Coast Guard to arrive, who eventually airlifted Daniel to a Miami hospital where he underwent two successful surgeries.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old was airlifted by the US Coast Guard to a Miami hospital and has undergone two surgeries. gofundme<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old, who works as an exterminator, was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday but said he \u201ccan\u2019t really move around at all\u201d as his foot is in a boot and is bandaged from the surgeries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel okay, like pretty strong. Just my blood pressure\u2019s acting a little funny because, you know, I just got attacked by a shark,\u201d he quipped to WVSN.<\/p>\n

While his recovery is expected to take months, including physical therapy and time off work, Daniel feels \u201cincredibly humble and thankful that I realized that every minute does count in your life\u201d after surviving the brutal mauling. <\/p>\n

While he\u2019s grateful to be alive, Daniel said his recovery will take months and is currently in a boot after the surgeries. gofundme<\/p>\n

\u201cOne minute you could be walking around having a great time, looking at beautiful weather and having fun with friends, and the next minute, you could literally be dead,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n

While he\u2019s grateful to be alive, Daniel said he doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s \u201cgoing to get back in the water any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably not for a long time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man who was savagely attacked by a seven-foot shark in Florida said he would \u201c100% be dead\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20572,1993,28,30,29,123,16538,19589,154310,4278],"class_list":["post-385151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-animal-attacks","tag-coast-guard","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-miami","tag-shark-attack","tag-sharks","tag-surgeries","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}