On Sunday afternoon, a recreational swimmer named David Daniel was attacked by a shark while near a boat off Boca Grande Key, an island west of Key West. The bite struck his lower leg, causing a serious arterial wound.

Rapid response saves the day

U.S. Coast Guard personnel arrived quickly, and a good Samaritan helped pull Daniel from the water. According to a dispatch call, nurses on the scene applied a tourniquet and monitored his breathing while the Coast Guard coordinated transport.

“Nurses on scene, they’ve applied a tourniquet. He is breathing,” the call recorded. “They’ve had a very bad shark bite, arterial bleed.”

Nurse Courtney McMurray’s actions

One of the first responders, Nurse Courtney McMurray, described the urgency of the situation. “He looked like he was in rough shape,” she told NBC News. “He was kind of in and out of speaking, so I was asking him questions to try and keep him alert and awake.”

Recognizing that Daniel was in shock, McMurray and her team fashioned a tourniquet from a belt to stem the bleeding. “It was a significant wound, we tried to keep it as clean as possible given the resources we had in the first aid kit, but the priority was to stop the bleeding so we could keep him alive,” she explained.

Hospital care and gratitude

After stabilization, Daniel was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami for further treatment. He later issued a statement thanking the rescuers, saying, “Thank you to the hero nurses on the beach and to my friends who drove me into the Coast Guard and the nurses at the hospital. I said a prayer to my mom who passed away in October and I felt that she helped out.”

The incident underscores the importance of swift medical intervention and the dedication of first‑responders in the Florida Keys. Local authorities continue to monitor shark activity in the area and advise swimmers to stay alert and follow safety guidelines.

Original reporting: NBC6 Miami — read the source article.