Swimmer attacked by shark could have bled out if onlookers hadn’t helped, CA man says
Triathlete Steve Bruemmer was wading in calm water on June 22 at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove — just like he had done many times before.
But on this warm day, a shark gripped Bruemmer’s body in its jaws, leaving a “pretty clear U-ring” or shark bite around his pelvis, Nicholas Rottler, a trauma surgeon at the hospital said in a statement.
Bruemmer said he was lucky.
“The shark bite was unlucky. But after that, I have just had so much good luck,” he said.
The shark did not damage any of Bruemmer’s major arteries, bones or organs in the attack, one doctor said.
And he was rescued before he bled out in the water, thanks to three onlookers who dashed to save him, he said.
The calm weather and the waves made it possible for onlookers to hear his cries for help, he said.
A nurse and Sacramento police officer who had been paddleboarding heard Bruemmer yell. A surf instructor also heard him and grabbed an extra surf board and brought it into the water, he said.
“He was screaming for help. You could tell just the sound and the emotion in his voice that there was something definitely wrong,” one of the witnesses on a paddleboard told KSBW.
The three of them were able to slide Bruemmer on the board and paddle him back to the shore where other onlookers helped put tourniquets on him, Bruemmer said.
“I was in the ambulance, thinking I don’t know if I was going to survive, but at least I could breathe. Then I don’t remember anything for a while,” Bruemmer said.
As of June 23, Bruemmer is in “fair condition” and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Mr. Bruemmer was lucky to have survived his injuries, the real heroes of this story are the paddleboarders who swam toward the danger as well as the first responders and good samaritans on the beach,” Natividad Trauma Medical Director and Chief of Surgery Dr. Alexander Di Stante said in the release.
A drone was used to scan the area for the shark, but it was not spotted.
Lovers Point and the Sea Palm turnout will be closed to the public until June 25 following the attack, police said.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Swimmer attacked by shark could have bled out if onlookers hadn’t helped, CA man says."
