Shark bites teenager's leg in attack at North Carolina beach

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Expert emphasizes rarity of shark attacks after two attacks in Florida

Marine ecologist Mike Heithaus joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss three injured in two separate shark attacks off of Florida’s panhandle.

A teen is recovering from injuries to his right leg after a shark attack at a North Carolina beach on Sunday afternoon. 

North Topsail Beach Police Chief William Younginer told Fox News Digital that he raced to the scene in Onslow County, where 14-year-old Blayne Brown had been bitten.

"I ran up to an emergency on the beach. The [police] officers [also] ran out," he said. "There was a 14-year-old male that had been bitten by a shark."

The attack occurred around 12:30 p.m. at North Topsail Beach, near Beach Access No. 4 in Onslow County. 

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"We heard a lot of commotion and everybody yelling, 'Get out of the water! Shark, shark!" witness Chasity Keeter told WRAL-TV. "It was really scary."

Brown was reportedly visiting from West Virginia. 

Topsail Island, N.C., where a teen was bitten by a shark over the weekend.  (Logan Cyrus / AFP via Getty Images)

"I was in the water, like screaming for help," Brown told WWAY-TV3. "People just looked at me, and thought I was just screaming to be screaming. Like, I didn’t even know there was a shark that bit me. It just scared me so bad."

The shark bit Brown twice, once on the leg and again on the ankle.

Fortunately, two police officers and an EMS officer were already present on the scene from a previous unrelated distress call.

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"Bystanders had pulled him out, and they were wrapping a towel around him and stopping the bleeding, which is the right thing to do," Younginer said. "That's [exactly] what they should have done." 

A tiger shark swims in the Atlantic Ocean. (Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Two officers applied a tourniquet to Brown, and he was transported to nearby Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, where he is recovering from his injuries.

Younginer shared that shark attacks are extremely rare in the area.

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"We have some people that step on a stingray, things like that, but we haven't had [a shark attack]," he said. "I've been here since 2018. We haven't had a shark bite."

Younginer said Brown is expected to be released from the hospital soon.