Man Survives Shark Attack 10 Years After Being Bitten by Alligator

The Realblog with Stephanie Mallory

Man Survives Shark Attack 10 Years After Being Bitten by Alligator

Posted 2020-08-17T08:00:00Z

The latest incident left Justin Stuller with 24 stitches and a limp

Florida man gets bitten by a shark 10 years after suffering an alligator bite. (Image © Moize nicolas / Shutterstock)Wild animal attacks are rare, but one Florida man has been bitten by both an alligator and a shark, and he has the scars to prove it.

The latest incident occurred a couple of weeks ago on the first day of the annual lobster mini season. According to the Miami Herald, Justin Stuller, along with his friends and family, were diving for lobster off Stock Island near Key West when he noticed an injured hogfish that someone had previously speared.

Stuller, 38, from Estero, Florida, grabbed the fish and swam back to his boat before realizing it was too small to keep. As he released it, a lemon shark, estimated to be about 8 feet long, bit into his right leg near his knee. He didn't see the shark until it was too late.

I saw it afterwards, as I rolled over, he said.

Stuller made sure his wife and three small children got out of the water before he climbed onto the boat, where his friends cleaned and wrapped the wound. Then they took him to Lower Keys Medical Center, where he received 24 stitches and 12 Steri-Strip butterfly bandages.

As mentioned above, this wasn't the first time a wild creature has bitten Stuller.

About 10 years ago, Stuller and two of his friends were alligator hunting. They shot an arrow into one end of a gator and a harpoon into the other. As Stuller was pulling in the lines, the alligator bit into his left leg above the knee.

The two guys I was with kind of got tied up in the ropes we were using and as I was pulling the alligator, kind of trying to just do it myself and get it over with, the alligator decided he wasn't ready and took a big clamp on my leg, then a little bigger clamp on my leg and shot back into the water, Stuller told Fox News.

That bite wound became infected.

There was a lot of penicillin after that one, Stuller said.

For more crazy outdoor stories, visit The Realblog and check out Realtree's Facebook page.