14-year-old recovering after being bitten by shark at North Topsail Beach

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, NC (WWAY) — A 14-year-old visiting North Topsail Beach from West Virginia is recovering at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital after being bitten by a shark over the weekend.

Police said Blayne Brown was swimming in waist-deep water near Beach Access 4 at 474 New River Inlet Road on Sunday around 12:30 p.m. Brown said a friend who was in the water with him took off for the shore, and before he could figure out why, a shark suddenly bit him twice on his leg and ankle.   

“So she ran away, then like right after she just ran away, I think it just bit me. Then I had to walk out of the ocean all by myself,” Brown said. 

When Brown got out of the water, bystanders on the beach applied pressure to his wounds using beach towels. North Topsail Beach Police Chief William Younginer said police and EMS were already nearby responding to another call when brown was bitten. 

“So people started waving down the policeman, who ran out and they told EMS to come on out. So, you had about a 2-minute response out to him which was great,” Younginer said. “Bystanders were already putting a towel on their and applying pressure which is what you should do.” 

Brown said after he was bitten, many beachgoers continued to go about their swim, even after he was on the beach with his injuries.  

“I was in the water, like screaming for help,” Brown recalled. “People just looked at me, and thought I was just screaming to be screaming. Like, I didn’t even know there was a shark that bit me. It just scared me so bad.”  

According to the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File—which catalogs shark attacks across the world—North Carolina ranks 5th nationally for shark attacks with 77 unprovoked attacks since 1935, making them relatively rare. But Chief Younginer noted that’s not what beach goers would worry about.  

“They should think about it, but not worry about it so much. What you really ought to think about is riptides, rip currents and that kind of thing and learn how to get out of a rip current,” Younginer explained. “Go with it, swim to the sides and things like that because more than likely that’s what you’re going to be getting.”  

When WWAY spoke to Brown on Monday, he had just gotten back from physical therapy. Brown’s doctors tell him he should be out of the hospital by Tuesday.