FORT MYERS, Fla. – An Austrian teenager who was bitten by a shark off the coast of Boca Grande (search) last week has been released from the hospital.
Armin Trojer (search), 19, of Baden, Austria, was released Sunday, said Alex Reichert, an administrative supervisor at Lee Memorial Hospital.
Trojer was bitten on his right ankle as he stood in chest-deep water in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he underwent surgery to repair damaged ligaments, tendons and blood vessels.
The attack came days after two other shark attacks, some 80 miles apart in the Florida Panhandle.
On June 25, 14-year-old Jamie Marie Daigle (search) of Gonzales, La., was mutilated and killed by a bull shark near Destin. Two days later, 16-year-old Craig Adam Hutto (search) of Lebanon, Tenn., had to have his leg amputated after he was bitten off Cape San Blas.
There have also been other scares in recent days. Sharks were seen about 20 feet from shore in Deerfield Beach last week, prompting a temporary closure of the Broward County beach.
And on Sunday, the Monroe County sheriff's department received a call after a man was reportedly "surrounded by sharks" in waters off Long Key State Park, sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said. The man was safely ashore by the time deputies arrived.
Despite the recent incidents, shark attacks in Florida are relatively rare, with 30 in 2003 among the millions of people who hit the state's beaches. Last year, when four hurricanes kept many visitors away, there were 12 attacks.
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