Surfer Recovering from Second Shark Bite in 11 Years at Same Beach: ‘I Don’t Even Know How I Still Have Toes’

A Florida man recently survived a once-in-a-lifetime encounter of being bitten by a shark for the second time in just over a decade.

On Friday, Oct. 25, Cole Taschman was surfing at Florida’s Bathtub Beach when he found himself in a familiar situation that occurred 11 years ago – he was being bitten by a shark, according to local NBC affiliate WPTV.

“I looked behind me and he was he kind of was just like, on the back of me,” Taschman said of the scary encounter with the shark he estimated was around eight feet long. “I just looked and I saw last-second him kind of going under and then he just kind of moved towards the side. I could kind of see his silhouette, he added.

Representatives from Bathtub Beach did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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Taschman explained that the shark bite he sustained this time was far worse than in 2013, telling the outlet that there “was no comparison” and described the shark as “a beast.”

After catching a wave back to shore, Taschman said he made it back to friends and his girlfriend. There, he encountered a local food truck operator who utilized Taschman’s surfboard leashes as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and then drove him to a local hospital before he “blacked out,” per the outlet.

Taschman described the painful shark encounter that he says could have left him with missing limbs. 

“I almost lost the whole part of my ankle, and then on this foot, I don’t even know how I still have toes, to tell you the truth. They said I walked and I have three cut tendons,” Taschman noted, per WSAZ.

Taschman was released from the hospital on Oct. 28 after requiring two surgeries for his injuries, according to local outlet WPBF.

"So 93 stitches, I think I got like 10 staples or something like that and then three tendons gone that they reattached, two surgeries and a lot of fun in the hospital,” Taschman said per the outlet.

Following the shark attack, Taschman told WPTV he has a new outlook on life. “You know, you think a lot about family and think a lot about life. You know, it changes you. So definitely don't surf alone,” he said.

Taschman has a GoFundMe set up aid in his medical expenses as he continues to recover, with over $5,000 of its $30,000 goal raised as of publication.