Surfer goes to bar instead of hospital after shark bite

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JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. (WDTN) – A professional surfer in Florida said no to stitches and yes to free drinks after getting bitten by a shark.

Surfer Frank O’Rourke was riding the waves in Jacksonville Beach when a shark latched onto his elbow.

“It came out of the water after he went over the back of a wave and it landed on him, on his board, and kind of knocked him off his board and bit him on the elbow,” RJ Berger, a witness, said. “He was right there behind the wave and boom, that’s when he got hit and you can see the shark’s tail splashing – it like knocked him off his board.”

Berger says O’Rourke got treated by a lifeguard but did not go to the hospital, even though he thinks his friend could have used a stitch or two.

“He immediately went to a bar because he was like ‘hey, I got bit by a shark’ and people were like ‘I’ll buy you drinks,’” Berger said. “So he hung out at the pier.”

Berger says an incident like this won’t stop him from continuing to hit the waves.

“It’s inevitable,” Berger said. “It’s gonna happen. It’s happened to a couple of my friends. It does bother you but I mean, if it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. There’s nothing much you can do to really stop that, so try not to worry about it.”