Boy hospitalized after being bitten by shark in Key Largo, sheriff’s office says
Paramedics flew a boy to a Miami-Dade County hospital after he was bitten by a shark in the Florida Keys Monday afternoon, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.
The bite happened around 3:25 p.m. in the ocean off Key Largo. Monroe County Fire Rescue paramedics flew the boy to Jackson Memorial Hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
Monroe Sheriff Rick Ramsay told the Herald that the 8-year-old boy was snorkeling on Horseshoe Reef when he was bitten. He was in surgery Monday evening, Ramsay said.
A Monroe County Fire Rescue spokeswoman confirmed the boy was bitten above the knee, and a nearby scuba diving boat crew rendered immediate aid.
Horseshoe Reef is about four miles offshore of Key Largo.
First responders were heard on emergency scanner traffic saying the boy’s “injury is significant,” and that medics applied two tourniquets and bandaged his wounds “to control the bleeding.”
The sheriff’s office said it notified both the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published September 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM.
