11-Year-Old Boy Loses Leg in Horror Shark Attack

A day at one of Brazil’s most popular beaches turned into a nightmare when an 11-year-old boy was mauled by a shark in front of horrified beachgoers.

The terrifying attack happened Sunday afternoon at Piedade Beach in Jaboatao dos Guararapes, a coastal city in Brazil’s Pernambuco state. The beach was crowded when the shark struck the child around 1:40 p.m. local time.

Local media identified the boy as Joao Lucas Castor Nemezio Sales. He suffered devastating injuries to the left side of his body after the shark attacked him near the hip. Reports said the boy lost his left leg in the mauling.

Video from the scene showed several men dragging the badly wounded child from the water as panicked beachgoers rushed toward the shoreline. Another angle showed a large crowd gathering around him while people waited desperately for emergency crews to arrive.

The boy had been at the beach with his uncle, Aldemir Jose, and two other children when the attack happened.

Jose said he had just gotten out of the water moments before the shark struck.

“We were all in the sea before the attack, and I had just left the water and left the kids in the sea,” Jose said, according to local reports.

Then he heard something strange.

“Then I heard a strange noise, and when I turned round, all I could see was blood,” he said. “I didn’t think twice and raced into the water to get my nephew out.”

What happened next was heartbreaking.

Jose said his nephew was still conscious after the attack and kept pleading for his life.

“He was conscious and just kept begging me not to let him die,” Jose said.

Lifeguards rushed to help the severely injured child and provided emergency care on the beach until paramedics with Mobile Emergency Care Services arrived.

The boy was first taken to Aeronautics Hospital before being transferred to the larger Hospital da Restauracao, where he underwent surgery.

Local reports said Joao Lucas is now conscious and in stable condition.

Officials said the attack happened in an area already known for shark danger. According to authorities, the beach is covered by a state decree warning about the heightened risk of shark attacks, and signs are posted along the shoreline to alert swimmers.

Danise Alves, executive secretary of the State Committee for Monitoring Shark Incidents, said the warning signs were in place where the boy was attacked.

“Where the boy was attacked, the sign informs that the area is subject to attacks and provides information on when swimming should be avoided,” Alves said.

The committee said Sunday’s attack was the 83rd recorded shark incident in Pernambuco since the state began monitoring attacks in 1992. Of those incidents, 24 have happened at Piedade Beach.

The attack was also the third shark incident reported in Pernambuco this year.

One of the earlier victims was a 13-year-old boy who was fatally attacked at Del Chifre Beach in Olinda, roughly 16 miles north of Jaboatao dos Guararapes.