Farewell Swim Turns Ugly!

On Sept. 26, Daniel Callahan decided to take one last dip in the canal behind his recently sold Florida Keys home.

Bad move, Callahan. Within seconds of diving into the water for a “farewell swim,” he was attacked by an estimated 8-foot bull shark. The shark bit Callahan’s right foot, causing a gash that required more than 130 stitches.

Callahan, who now lives in Washington, D.C., recently sold his Keys home, and was in town clearing his personal effects out of it. Around 5:30, he decided to take one last swim in the canal.

“Everything probably took less than 30 seconds,” he said. “I dove in and I get hit from behind on my right foot. It really felt more like a hammer or a sledgehammer. It starts to pull me down. I turn and see the shark with my foot in its mouth, and with my left leg kick it with all of my might. I know a little bit about sharks, so I knew I needed to get loose.”

Things went from bad to worse when, in a panic, Callahan neglected to use a ladder he’d set against the seawall to get out after the swim, opting for another ladder instead.

“I hit the shark on the nose; it releases me for a couple seconds; I take two or three massive strokes over to the seawall and, without even thinking, climb up [a] barnacle-encased ladder. That immediately puts a nice big barnacle through my left foot, but I didn’t even feel that,” he said.

Dorothy Griffith, daughter of Callahan’s good friend Tod Griffith, was the only witness. She, Tod and Callahan’s daughter Katie rushed Daniel to the emergency room, after wrapping his foot with a T-shirt and duct tape to try to stop the bleeding.

A few hours later, he was bandaged up and is now back home in D.C.

[source]