‘Lucky to be alive’: Bull shark pulls fisherman into water

A man has recounted his “scariest day” on the water after a bull shark grabbed his mate’s hand and dragged him into a murky river.

A fisherman has recounted his “scariest day” on the water after a bull shark grabbed his mate’s hand and dragged him into a river. Picture: Facebook.

A fisherman has recounted his “scariest day” on the water after a bull shark grabbed his mate’s hand and dragged him into a river.

Heart-stopping footage of the incident showed the fisherman, named Nick, washing his hands in the water at Everglades National Park in Florida after releasing a fish.

Suddenly, a shark emerged and reared up out of the water, biting onto Nick’s hand and dragging him into the murky river.

His mates immediately jumped into action and could be heard yelling “get him! Get him!” as they frantically pulled him back onto the boat.

Nick’s injured hand left a bloody print on the side of the vessel during the scramble.

“Today was one of the scariest days on the water that I have ever had,” Nick’s friend Michael wrote, sharing the video to Facebook.

“It started off great and my buddies were crushing the fish but despite our best efforts some of the fish were being lost to sharks. After releasing a snook, my friend Nick washed his hands in the water and was immediately bitten by a large bull shark.”

Michael said the shark was “unprovoked’, with no blood or chum in the water at the time.

“The sharks are no joke inside of Everglades National Park and the warnings about keeping your hands and feet inside of the vessel are not an exaggeration,” he said.

“Please take this as a learning experience and learn from Nick’s mistake. This could have been prevented.”

The shark reared up out of the water and pulled Nick in by his hand. Picture: Facebook.

His friends could be heard screaming as they pulled him from the water. Picture: Facebook.

Michael said he called emergency services and raced Nick back to shore, where park rangers provided first aid and Nick was airlifted to hospital.

“Today could have gone way worse,” he finished the post.

The video has garnered almost 500,000 views in just a few hours.

“He is lucky to be alive … but this is Darwinism at its finest,” one commenter wrote.

“It just takes 2 seconds for something to go wrong. Stay safe,” said a second.

Another person shed light on why the shark may have appeared despite being, in Michael’s words, “unprovoked”.

“Splashing triggers the prey drive in a shark. They think it’s an injured fish, especially if the shark is already in the middle of hunting,” the person explained.

“Moral of the story … don’t wash your hands twice in the same place. Hope he’s OK. Prayers out to him,” another added.