Anniversary from hell! Shark turns dream Bahamas trip into bloodbath

What was supposed to be the highlight of a 40th-wedding anniversary cruise turned into a nightmare when a Connecticut man was dragged underwater and mauled by a shark in the crystal-clear waters of the Bahamas.John Schweizer, 69, of Niantic, was snorkeling with Caribbean reef sharks near Bimini on July 24 alongside his wife, Marcy, and their adult sons when disaster struck, he told WTNH News8.“All of a sudden, one came up and just grabbed me right in the leg,” Schweizer recalled.“It was like a huge dog bite, very quick.”The shark clamped onto his left shin and briefly pulled him underwater before releasing him.

Son Tom watched in horror as the predator surged up from below, later seeing the skin on his father’s shin peeled back so badly that bone was visible.“It was so fast, so immediate,” Schweizer said.“One second.”Schweizer scrambled back to the tour boat as crew members rushed everyone from the water.Then they went on an emergency dash back to the cruise ship, cutting what should have been a 45-minute trip to just 10 minutes.“We used many, many towels and tourniquets to hold and keep the blood at bay,” he told NBC Connecticut.

“I was bleeding all over the place.”A doctor aboard the ship spent three hours stitching Schweizer back together, closing the gaping wounds in his leg with 26 stitches.“The doctor was amazing,” Schweizer said.

“He just made sure there was no infection.Three hours of stitching me up, he did a spectacular job.”He also suffered injuries to one hand, possibly from the shark’s teeth or dorsal fin, before later being transported to a Miami hospital.

Remarkably, he was discharged after just one day and is already walking as he recovers.Despite the terrifying ordeal, the retired financial adviser said he’s simply thankful the shark targeted him instead of his wife or sons.“I’m happy it was me,” he said.“I get to have a good story to tell.”That story got an unforgettable ending when Schweizer ret...