An eight-year-old British boy was attacked by sharks while on vacation in the Bahamas.
Finley Downer was surrounded by three nurse sharks while swimming in a lagoon last week, his family said, before he was taken to safety after being bitten on both legs.
Finley was then taken to a clinic in the capital, Nassau, where he underwent a three-hour operation, according to PA Media.
Finley’s father, Michael Downer, 44, told the Sun: “It was like a scene from Jaws,” adding that his son could have been killed.
Michael had taken the family, including Finley and his sisters Lily, nine, and Emily, 12, on a five-island tour when the Compass Cay attack took place. The family told the newspaper they had joined a crowd swimming among nurse sharks in the lagoon.
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Describing the scene, his father recalled that there was so much blood when his son said to him: “Dad, I don’t want to die.” The family have since returned to Kettering, Northamptonshire, where Finley is recovering .
Tour guide Exuma Escapes told the Sun the family entered a lagoon not used on their tour without a guide. They described nurse sharks as docile bottom feeders “unless mishandled.”
Exuma Escapes has been contacted for comment.