Shark bite may have sent 7-year-old girl to the hospital, North Carolina officials say
A suspected shark bite sent a 7-year-old girl to the hospital over the weekend, North Carolina officials said.
The girl was in Ocean Isle Beach when she was bitten in the water Sunday morning, Mayor Debbie Smith told McClatchy News.
“The first responders told me that it was a pattern consistent with a small shark,” Smith said.
The town said the girl was brought to a hospital and received stitches. Her injuries were believed to be non-life-threatening, according to officials.
There reportedly have been no other shark sightings in the area, and there were no closures for those swimming nearby.
Ocean Isle Beach is near the South Carolina border roughly 45 miles southwest of Wilmington.
It’s not the first time a possible shark encounter happened off the town’s shores.
In 2019, officials said a man was injured after a “marine” animal bit him on the foot.
Last year, three shark attacks were reported in North Carolina — the fourth most of any state in the country, McClatchy News reported. None of those encounters were deadly.
Fatal shark attacks are rare. The risk of dying from one is greater than 1-in-3 million, so you’re more likely to be killed from lightning, an accidental poisoning or other causes, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Shark bite may have sent 7-year-old girl to the hospital, North Carolina officials say."
