Jacksonville Beach Shark Bite Victim, a UNF Baseball Player, Describes Attack

JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- Looking back on it now from his hospital room, Clayton Schulz remembers the whole thing lasting just seconds.

"I yelled, 'Hey man I just got bit, I just got bit.  Can you help me out? I just got bit by a shark,'" said Schulz.

But in those brief few moments, he said, the shark that had latched onto his foot had left its mark.

"He kind of just shook his head a little bit, gave a nice shake, one or two shakes... I turned back around and looked at my foot and it was hanging pretty good," said Schulz.

Schulz is an avid surfer and the attack happened while he was in the water near the Sixth Avenue Pier.

He said he tried to stay calm. But when he came out of the water, his girlfriend on the beach was one of the first to see what his foot looked like. 

"Not a foot to be honest, I didn't even really want to look at it that much, because I don't have a strong stomach. But it looked pretty bad when I first saw it," said Megan Hudack.

Marine biologists said shark attacks around Jacksonville are rare, but tend to happen more in summer just because there are more swimmers in the water.

Schulz received 400 stitches in his foot.

He is also a pitcher on the UNF baseball team, but he says this won't slow him down.

He expects to be back on the mound at the start of the season. But will he surf again?

"I'm sure I'll be back out there. My neck might be turning a little bit, looking around and stuff, but I'm sure I'll be back out there as soon as I can," said Schulz.