Special to El Rrun-Rrun
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With the shark craze in full swing in television and movies, it's easy to make believe that sharks are funny (albeit dangerous) things.
That got us thinking of an incident that happened many years ago when we still worked at the Brownsville Herald.
The news desk received a call of a shark attack at South Padre Island and sent me off with photog Ron Schade to see what the commotion was all about.
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Since shark attacks on people were extremely rare, we were surprised to learn that a visitor from Mexico City had been wading in about two or three feet of water when she felt something bite her right leg.
She had tried to shake it off but then felt teeth pull the flesh right off her leg and realized she was being attacked by a shark. She screamed for help and her husband was able to pull her out of the water.
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But not before a shark - a small one at that - had made off with a chunk of her ankle that left her bone visible. Local doctor Raul Rodriguez and his brother worked feverishly to save her limb and were able to stabilize her and put her on a plane back to Mexico.
The police chief said the shark was no more than two or three feet long, but that its teeth had lacerated the woman's leg like it was nothing.
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The last reported shark attacks happened in September 5, 2017, when a woman reported she was attacked just off Bougainvillea beach access 14. Like the woman from Mexico, the woman was suffering from serious lacerations to her foot.
“The lady was in about knee-deep water and it took a bite out of her foot,” said Jim Pigg, then-South Padre Island beach patrol director.
Recently, we have received photos of local fishermen reeling in numerous small sharks from the surf at SPI beaches.
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The fishermen said that it was one of several they had caught off the isolated beaches.
With Labor Day coming and the crowds expected to swarm to the beaches for one last time before resuming the annual grind, a word to the wise: Sharks just don't exist in movies; watch your step.
With the shark craze in full swing in television and movies, it's easy to make believe that sharks are funny (albeit dangerous) things.That got us thinking of an incident that happened many years ago when we still worked at the Brownsville Herald.
The news desk received a call of a shark attack at South Padre Island and sent me off with photog Ron Schade to see what the commotion was all about.
Since shark attacks on people were extremely rare, we were surprised to learn that a visitor from Mexico City had been wading in about two or three feet of water when she felt something bite her right leg.
She had tried to shake it off but then felt teeth pull the flesh right off her leg and realized she was being attacked by a shark. She screamed for help and her husband was able to pull her out of the water.
But not before a shark - a small one at that - had made off with a chunk of her ankle that left her bone visible. Local doctor Raul Rodriguez and his brother worked feverishly to save her limb and were able to stabilize her and put her on a plane back to Mexico.
The police chief said the shark was no more than two or three feet long, but that its teeth had lacerated the woman's leg like it was nothing.
The last reported shark attacks happened in September 5, 2017, when a woman reported she was attacked just off Bougainvillea beach access 14. Like the woman from Mexico, the woman was suffering from serious lacerations to her foot.
“The lady was in about knee-deep water and it took a bite out of her foot,” said Jim Pigg, then-South Padre Island beach patrol director.
The fishermen said that it was one of several they had caught off the isolated beaches.
With Labor Day coming and the crowds expected to swarm to the beaches for one last time before resuming the annual grind, a word to the wise: Sharks just don't exist in movies; watch your step.