The 8-year-old boy who survived a shark attack in Florida and had his arm reattached is now suffering from kidney failure.
"After you've been in a period of time of shock like he was, it would not be unusual for the kidneys to go into failure. Especially considering the fact that his blood pressure was down for as long as it was and he had to be resuscitated," said Dr. Ian Rogers, a plastic surgeon who took part in the surgery to reattach the arm. Rogers made his remarks today on ABC News' "Good Morning America," according to this story from ABCNEWS.com.
Jesse Arbogast had his right arm bitten off by a 7-foot shark three nights ago as he swam with his aunt and uncle at the Gulf Islands National Seashore near Fort Pickens in the Florida Panhandle, according to this ABCNEWS.com story. Officials say the attack occurred about 8:30 p.m. on July 6.
A park service official said the boy's uncle "dove into the water and pulled the boy and the 250-pound shark to the shore. The uncle then wrestled the shark on the beach where a park ranger shot it four times in the head," the story says.
Three surgeons and a support team worked 12 hours in shifts to reattach the boy's arm, which had to be pulled from inside the shark, said Pam Bilbrey, a spokeswoman for Baptist Hospital Pensacola. Doctors said the boy's arm should grow to normal size, but it will be months before they can determine how well the limb will function, according to the story.
One reason for hope was that the bite was a "clean cut," said Rogers. "Shark bites you don't anticipate will be clean cuts and this was surprisingly good and surprisingly clean," the story says.
Officials believe the shark was a bull shark, which is known to be an aggressive species.
The International Shark Attack File says there were 79 confirmed shark attacks -- 10 of them fatal -- around the world last year. That's the highest total in the four decades that records have been maintained. Thirty-four of those attacks took place in Florida, according to The Associated Press.
To learn more about shark attacks, visit The International Shark Attack File.
