Yahoo News South Carolina Man Recalls Moment He Was Bitten in the Face by Shark: 'I Heard the Crunch'
The man was surfing at New Smyrna Beach on Tuesday when a shark latched onto his face, according to Volusia County Beach Safety
A South Carolina surfer who was bitten in the face by a shark at a Florida beach says the encounter was “the scariest thing” he’s ever experienced.
Mark Sumersett, 38, was surfing at New Smyrna Beach — which has been called the "shark bite capital of the world— on Tuesday when the shark latched onto his face, according to an incident from Volusia County Beach Safety obtained by PEOPLE.
The surfer told NBC affiliate WESH that he didn’t see the shark before it bit him while he rode a wave near the jetty.
Related: Man Dies, Another Found Floating Face Down in Separate Incidents at Fla. Beach Over an Hour Apart
“It was like a crunch,” Sumersett said. “I heard the crunch. It felt like a bear trap crunching on my face.”
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“I thought that sucker was going to come back for me,” the South Carolina man added. “I thought he was ‘cause I was bleeding so bad.”
The surfer was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center, a level-two trauma center, and released a short time later, per a previous WESH report.
The surfer sustained injuries to the right side of his face, which took about 20 stitches to close, according to the outlet. The shark also left marks at the bottom of the left side of his face, as well.
But this incident has not deterred the man from getting back on his surfboard.
Related: Connecticut Man Is Third Drowning Death This Week Off North Carolina's Outer Banks Coast
“I'm going surfing again. Because I love it,” he told the station. “There's nothing in the world that makes me feel better than surfing.”
However, nothing in his life has compared to the fear he faced during the attack. “I've been in bad car accidents,” he said. “Nothing like this.”
The incident is the seventh shark attack in the area this year, according to CBS affiliate WKMG-TV, The Daytona Beach News-Journal and WESH.
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Read the original article on People.
