Erik Norrie Has Been Attacked By Shark, Struck By Lightning, Bitten By A Rattlesnake And Punched By Monkeys

Erik Norrie was spear-fishing in the Bahamas when he felt something grab his leg. The Largo man was being attacked by a 6-foot shark.

It happened just off the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, where Norrie and his family were vacationing. They had just had lunch, and Norrie went snorkeling and spearfishing for their grouper dinner for later.

"After I had speared the grouper, I was swimming back toward the boat to put them in the cooler and I was probably in about five feet of water," Norrie told My Fox in an interview from his room at the Tampa General Hospital.

"And all of the sudden I felt this [crunch] on the back of my leg. And just as I looked back, he was just finishing his bite and ripping and swimming off, and you could see a piece of my leg in his mouth. My first reaction was, 'Aaaahhh!' And I real quickly flipped my right foot into the shallowest water I could get in and I stood up and I picked my leg up out of the water."

He threw the spear down because the shark was still around and the pool of blood that originated from the wound was making him look more attractive to the marine creature.

Norrie's wife, Spryng, along with their four daughters, witnessed the horrific scene and immediately used their boat's radio to call for help. Fortunately, a doctor from San Diego who was vacationing in the area helped the family get Erik to shore and to a medical facility, and then to Jackson Hospital in Miami.

Norrie has quite some tales to tell. He has traveled the world, even as far as Papua New Guinea. In those adventures he's encountered major obstacles, as he has been struck by lightning, his right leg has been bitten by a rattlesnake, he's also been punched by monkeys twice, and now, he can claim that he's survived a major shark bite.

However, those misfortunes can't seem to bring his good spirits down. Norrie and his family rely on their faith and believe that praying has saved them multiple times, and that every accident has a purpose and that's why they happen.

Although Norrie's recovery will be long and painful having to get multiple skin grafts, he is thankful he's alive and confident the doctors will have his leg looking and feeling like new again.