Marlin Deere Wakeman of Stuart, Florida, was working on a boat in the Bahamas when he slipped into a marina
A Florida man named Marlin Deere Wakeman is opening up about how lucky he is after falling into a marina filled with sharks.
According to ABC News, the 24-year-old from Stuart was working on a boat in the Bahamas when he slipped into the Flying Fish Marina, where the boat was docked. NBC News reports that the incident took place on April 26.
“When I got bit, I was pulling myself back in and he grabbed my leg, the first shark did, and pulled me underwater,” Wakeman said at a press conference, per WPTV. “Kind of scrambled for a second, [then] I got my surroundings in check and realized what was going on.”
He added that although he was able to grab the boat with his left hand, another shark “came and hit me on my right side, my right shoulder.”
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Despite the second shark arriving at the scene, the man was able to pull himself back into the boat and call for help.
Speaking of the first shark’s bite, Wakeman said, per NBC News, “I got really lucky he didn’t head shake or hold on for a while.”
“And then that’s when I was able to get back up to the surface,” he continued, adding of the second shark, “The one on my shoulder felt like a punch. … You really don’t feel the teeth going in.”
His captain, who was nearby, quickly came to Wakeman’s assistance. Per ABC News, the captain tied Wakeman’s leg with a tourniquet after he got out of the water.
Wakeman recalled that after the adrenaline wore off, he began to feel a lot of pain, telling his captain, “ ‘Hey man, like, I really don’t want to die right now. Like, this ain’t it.’ “
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According to Dr. Robert Borrego, per the outlet, Wakeman was then taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center for surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Speaking of the marina he fell into, Wakeman told reporters, “So that marina in particular, out of all the marinas I’ve been to in my entire life of working on boats, that exact marina is the worst marina I’ve ever seen.”
“There is at all times 20 sharks roaming around,” he said, adding that he and his friends had always spoken about how “you are done” if one of them fell into the marina.
“I have several friends who have been bitten and it’s a shocking revelation when you see that,” Wakeman’s father Rufus Wakeman said, per NBC News. “Some of the wounds these people have had to endure. And now it’s my son. It’s our son. And it’s just scary.”
PEOPLE has contacted the Flying Fish Marina for comment.
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