A 17-year-old boy was injured after being bitten by a shark during a Memorial Day fishing trip off the coast of Galveston, Texas, after the animal was reportedly brought onto a boat.
The incident occurred on Monday afternoon when the teenager, along with two others including his father, hauled the shark onboard their vessel during the trip.
Authorities said they were later alerted to the situation after the teenager suffered a severe bite to the arm while the shark was still on the boat, with reports indicating he had been bleeding heavily for an extended period before help arrived.
Emergency responders were told the boy had been bleeding for around two hours, with a tourniquet applied in an attempt to control the injury while the vessel experienced mechanical issues at sea.
The situation escalated further when the boat reportedly lost power in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving the injured teenager stranded offshore until rescue teams were able to reach them.
Galveston Island Beach Patrol, along with the US Coast Guard, responded to the distress call and provided additional medical assistance, including applying another tourniquet to stabilise the teen before transport.
Authorities later clarified that the incident was not a typical shark attack in open water, stating that the animal had already been brought onto the boat before the bite occurred.
Officials said the teenager was alert when he was taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital, although his current condition has not been made public.
Shark-related incidents in Texas remain rare, with only a small number recorded over more than a century, according to wildlife data, but officials warned that handling wild marine animals can still pose serious risks.
The case comes amid other recent shark attack incidents reported elsewhere, highlighting ongoing concerns about interactions between humans and marine wildlife in popular coastal destinations.
