Teen wearing shark repelling band, gets attacked by shark

NORTH HUTCHINSON ISLAND — A shark attacked a local surfer, landing the teen in the hospital with a massive jaws bite on his arm.

"I just got out of the water as quickly as possible because I didn’t want to get hit again." Zack Davis said, holding his right bandaged arm.

The attack happened near Avalon Beach State Park on North Hutchinson Island.

Zack was discharged from the hospital Wednesday night. He says he is recovering, but sore and tired after being “mostly awake” in the hospital for the last 24 hours.

Zack's right arm has a giant jaw mark on it, now covered in stitches. His doctors say it looks like the work of a black tip shark.

Vero Beach High School student Zack Davis wanted to catch just one more wave Tuesday.

“It didn’t look bad. There weren’t any bait fish or anything,” said Zack Davis, "I felt it hit because my hand was on the sand and I was getting turned by the wave and I felt it grab on like 2-3 seconds and I came up out the water and was like I just got bit."

Zack did some quick thinking in blood-stained water.

"It was like shocking. It wasn't really painful. Honestly I wasn't really in pain I was just like oh my gosh I need to do something with this quick, so I just took my leash from my board and just wrapped it around my arm because I didn't want to lose any blood." Zack said.

Zack and his twin brother Zane often go shark fishing, and they’ve surfed since they were young.

This was the first time he's even had a close encounter with a shark.

This attack left him with a giant jaw mark on his arm and 44 stitches.

"It held on for less than 3 seconds. I didnt even have a chance to hit him or anything." Zack said.

Zack was wearing a new band with magnetic technology that advertises it repels sharks away from swimmers.

"I got this for Christmas,” Zack said, showing us the green plastic band that looks like a watch with no face, “It is a shark band and it was supposed to keep sharks away and the first time I wore it, and I go surfing a lot, but the first time I wore it- I get bit."

Zack's mom, who is shaken by all this says she hopes to at least get her $80 back for the Shark Banz that didn’t work.

SharkBanz released this statement to CBS12:

We're in the process of gathering all known facts about the encounter from the victim. It's important for us to assess all the information regarding the circumstances in order to understand the shark's behavior, what ultimately caused the bite, and whether it was preventable.

We're relieved to see that Zach is already patched up and out of the hospital with plans to return to the water as soon as he's able.

SharkBanz is giving Zack new wristbands and company scientists reviewed the incident and believe the shark let go of the boy's arm quicker because of the technology. They also believe, according to their review, Zack fell on the shark and startled it, which led to the rare and unpreventable attack.

Related Link: SharkBanz investigating after teen bitten by shark