EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — UPDATE: The Executive Director of the Shark Research Institute believes it was likely a black tip shark that bit the victim while she was swimming in the ocean.
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The chances of being bitten by a shark are about 1 in 400 million. For one Luzerne County family, however, the unimaginable presumably happened while on vacation Monday in Ocean City, Maryland.
It’s a beach trip this Plains Township family will be talking about for summers to come, as one of their young daughters was unexpectedly attacked by something lurking in shallow waters and we must warn you that some of the images may be upsetting.
12-year-old Jordan Prushinski loves spending summer days with her family at the 119th Street beach in Ocean City, Maryland. But she never thought it would be the place where she would get attacked by a suspected shark while swimming in knee-deep water.
“I didn’t really realize what was going on until I was on the beach and I was bleeding everywhere,” stated Prushinski.
“I was swimming and a wave had just crashed and I was right on the edge of the crash zone, I thought a horseshoe crab had got lifted up and hit against my shins, and I don’t like the sea creatures so I rushed out immediately to find blood everywhere, with cuts all over my left leg,” explained Prushinski.
Horrified at the sight, Jordan’s mother Melissa Prushinski ran to get help. She says people at the beach, including an EMT and a nurse, jumped in to lend a hand, “Immediately we gave her first aid and bandaged it up, but I was very scared at that point.”
Help that Jordan’s father Robert Prushinski says, made the difference, “Lifeguards and everybody else that were helping, were fantastic. By the time I got there, I scooped her up and got her onto a quad and got her out of there.”
Jordan was then rushed to the Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Maryland. She was treated with 42 stitches for the 20 cuts on her leg.
“I’m kind of like, wanting to stay out of the water for a little while, but something like this is rare and it’s even rarer to happen again,” said Prushinski.
The Ocean City Beach Patrol tells us they’re still investigating, but Jordan Prushinski says she has quite the story to share with her classmates when she starts 7th grade in the fall.