A shark bit a 17-year-old boy Monday while he was aboard a boat miles offshore near Galveston, sending him to a hospital with serious injuries, rescue officials said.
Officials said the incident happened far from shore and had no connection to beach activity.
The U.S. Coast Guard received the call Monday afternoon after the teen suffered the bite while boating roughly two hours offshore with his father and another person, KHOU reported.
The boy’s father quickly applied a tourniquet to help stop the bleeding after the attack, rescue officials said.
As the group tried to return to shore, the boat became disabled in the Gulf, prompting a Coast Guard rescue response.
Coast Guard crews reached the vessel, applied a second tourniquet, and brought the teen back to land. EMS crews then took him to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for treatment.
Officials said the teen remained alert and conscious when rescuers brought him ashore.
Authorities had not released details about the teen’s injuries, where the shark bit him, or what type of shark was involved as of Monday night.
Galveston Beach Patrol also responded and emphasized that the incident did not happen near the beach.
