A Niantic man is recovering after surviving a shark attack while snorkeling in the Bahamas during a trip celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary.
John Schweizer was snorkeling with Caribbean reef sharks in the western Bahamas with his family last Friday when he was bitten shortly after entering the water.
“It was so fast, so immediate that you knew it happened. No doubt about it,” he said.
Schweizer said the snorkeling excursion was supposed to be the highlight of the anniversary trip.
“Beautiful diving. Beautiful clear water and we dove with the sharks,” he said.
His son spotted a large shadow, estimated to be between 5 and 7 feet long, swimming toward him. That’s when Schweizer realized he had been bitten by a shark. He called for help and was quickly pulled back onto the boat with a severe leg injury.
“We used many, many towels and torniquets to hold and keep the blood at bay,” he said.
Schweizer was taken back to a cruise ship, where an emergency room doctor treated his injuries.
“The ship had an emergency room doctor on there and put in 26 stitches and four in my hand,” he said.
He was later transported to a hospital in Miami. After one day, he was able to return home because his recovery was going well and he could still walk.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, Caribbean reef shark attacks are very uncommon. The museum has documented only four cases dating back to the 1500s.
When Schweizer returned home to Niantic, his neighbors welcomed him back with a “fin-tastic” homecoming wearing shark costumes.
“That’s my neighborhood, and they’re wonderful people,” he said.
Schweizer is an avid fisherman and said this was not his first encounter with sharks. He said he frequently sees sand tiger sharks in Long Island Sound.
“You catch them, and you don’t want to go near them. They don’t bite, but there’s a lot of sharks that are being caught by Millstone [Nuclear Power Plant] and they’re here.”
As for whether he would ever swim with sharks again, Schweizer’s answer was clear.
“No. No. Not at all and I won’t do it again,” he said.
