What was imagined to be the spotlight of a Fortieth-wedding anniversary cruise was a nightmare when a Connecticut man was dragged underwater and mauled by a shark within the crystal-clear waters of the Bahamas.
John Schweizer, 69, of Niantic, was snorkeling with Caribbean reef sharks close to Bimini on July 24 alongside his spouse, Marcy, and their grownup sons when catastrophe struck, he instructed WTNH News8.
“Rapidly, one got here up and simply grabbed me proper within the leg,” Schweizer recalled. “It was like an enormous canine chunk, very fast.”
The shark clamped onto his left shin and briefly pulled him underwater earlier than releasing him.
Son Tom watched in horror because the predator surged up from under, later seeing the pores and skin on his father’s shin peeled again so badly that bone was seen.
“It was so quick, so quick,” Schweizer mentioned. “One second.”
Schweizer scrambled again to the tour boat as crew members rushed everybody from the water.
Then they went on an emergency sprint again to the cruise ship, slicing what ought to have been a 45-minute journey to simply 10 minutes.
“We used many, many towels and tourniquets to carry and hold the blood at bay,” he instructed NBC Connecticut. “I used to be bleeding in all places.”
A physician aboard the ship spent three hours stitching Schweizer again collectively, closing the gaping wounds in his leg with 26 stitches.
“The physician was superb,” Schweizer mentioned. “He simply made positive there was no an infection. Three hours of sewing me up, he did a spectacular job.”
He additionally suffered accidents to at least one hand, presumably from the shark’s enamel or dorsal fin, earlier than later being transported to a Miami hospital. Remarkably, he was discharged after simply someday and is already strolling as he recovers.
Regardless of the terrifying ordeal, the retired monetary adviser mentioned he’s merely grateful the shark focused him as an alternative of his spouse or sons.
“I’m completely happy it was me,” he mentioned. “I get to have an excellent story to inform.”
That story received an unforgettable ending when Schweizer returned dwelling to Niantic. His neighbors greeted him carrying full shark costumes in a playful welcome-home shock.
“That’s my neighborhood,” he mentioned. “They’re fantastic folks.”
As for ever swimming with sharks once more?
“No,” he mentioned with amusing. “Under no circumstances.”
Schweizer’s ordeal is the most recent in a string of shark assaults and shark sightings which have taken place globally. As of late July 2026, there have been 32 verified shark assault bites worldwide, in keeping with monitoring sharks.com.
However that determine is definitely half of the 65 confirmed unprovoked shark bites in 2025, in keeping with the Yearly Worldwide Shark Assault Abstract.
The New York space has seemingly been below siege from a veritable sharknado in 2026 — with a spike in sightings and shut encounters, and seashores from Lengthy Island to The Rockaways have been closed.
On July 3, a swimmer was savaged on Jones Seashore.
However consultants speculate the enhance in shark sightings is because of higher surveillance strategies. This yr, Gov. Hochul elevated Lengthy Island’s fleet to 46 drones and 67 drone operators.
Don’t get again within the water but, although. The 1,700-pound nice white shark Contender — the largest ever recorded within the Atlantic — is predicted to be headed to the Japanese Seaboard.
Dun. Dun.
