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Hospital Video: What It's Like To Be Attacked By A Great White

In case you missed the Globe story, Massachusetts General Hospital has posted this two-minute, hospital-bed video of Chris Myers, the swimmer who was bitten by a Great White Shark off Truro on July 30. This is apparently the first such attack in the state's waters in more than 70 years, so it's a rare chance to ask the inevitable question: What does it feel like?

Chris Myers on the video: "The first thing i felt was a huge bite on my left foot. It felt like i had my foot stuck in a refrigerator or a vise, and I knew instantly that it was a shark. And we started swimming as hard as we could toward shore."

Chris says he had eight deep puncture wounds and it took 47 stitches to sew up his wounds. A couple of tendons in his ankle had been severed, and had to be surgically repaired. He can now walk on crutches and take a few steps on his own, he said, and is expected to make a full recovery.

"I feel very lucky to have made it back to that beach in one piece," he says. "Very very lucky that my son did not get bitten, and very thrilled that the two of us are going to get to home today together."

Old surfer saying: You don't have to swim faster than the shark, just faster than your buddy. My thought: But if the buddy is your son, then do you maybe swim slower?

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This program aired on August 8, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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Carey Goldberg Editor, CommonHealth
Carey Goldberg is the editor of WBUR's CommonHealth section.

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