Matt Bender, a 40-year-old avid surfer from Winter Park, Florida, experienced a terrifying shark attack while surfing at New Smyrna Beach on Saturday. The entire ordeal took place in just five feet of water. Bender compared the fast-moving assault to “really, honestly, like a lightning strike. He remembered how the shark approached him very quickly without warning—shocking him as much as it shocked the viewers.
After the dog attack Bender immediately went to great lengths to stay on top of his injuries. To stop the bleeding from his shattered arm, he used his surfboard leash as a makeshift tourniquet. And one more thing—his composure, man. From there, he prone paddled back to shore with his surfboard on his stomach, much like a boogie board.
Once safely on shore, Bender was able to wave down a passerby — a young girl and her parent — and ask for help. To their credit, they called in a lifeguard alerting those characters who quickly came running to administer medical assistance. Emergency medical technicians and lifeguards worked on Bender on the sand before taking him to a Daytona Beach hospital.
At the hospital, Bender had emergency surgery performed on his shattered arm. Although the procedure took a few hours, he was able to move his hand as soon as the surgery was completed. Although his doctors provided him with a very optimistic prognosis, Mr.
As a professional surfer at New Smyrna Beach, Bender has been bitten more than once! He’s seen all kinds hoping for a glimpse, including great hammerheads that can grow up to 15 feet long. Though he has suffered recently, he still told me just how much he enjoyed the local surf breaks.
“New Smyrna Beach has the best waves in the state of Florida,” – Matt Bender
As Bender processed the attack, he said he feels “incredibly lucky” under the circumstances. When asked what he’s thankful for this year, his response is simply that everything wasn’t worse. Still, he agreed that shark encounters are just a factor of surfing in this region.
“It just comes with the territory. I’m very fortunate that it wasn’t worse,” – Matt Bender
Now as he heals, Bender is looking forward to being back on the water in a few months. He stated, “I was yelling ‘help.’ They saw the blood. They reacted well. I wasn’t freaking out. I think that was a huge blessing.”
