Florida Teen Bitten by Shark During Lifeguard Training Camp

A Florida teenager was bitten by a shark during his first day at lifeguard training camp on Monday, officials said.

Dempsey Manhart, 14, was participating in a lifeguard training drill near the lifeguard tower in Ponce Inlet shortly before noon on Monday when he dove into the water and landed on a shark.

"I dove onto it, and I hit the shark," Manhart told Fox 35 News. "I hit it with my hands, and then I stood up, and it spun around and was like underneath my legs. And I think it bit me then when it was wrapped around my feet."

The teen told the outlet that at first he thought he hit a person.

"When it came under my feet, I was like hitting it, and then it swam away. Then that's when I saw the shark," Manhart told the outlet.

The shark bit the boy's calf, and he was taken by his parents to get 17 stitches. He still hopes to be back out on the beach Tuesday, even if he can't enter the water yet.

"Because I think that it's something really rare that can happen. And if it's happened once, I doubt it's going to happen again. So I don't think there's really anything to be scared of," said Manhart, whose father is a Volusia County deputy, lifeguard and EMT.

Monday's shark encounter comes less than a week after two separate shark bites in nearby New Smyrna Beach. A 21-year-old man was bitten Thursday, and a 26-year-old man was bitten Friday.

—TMX contributed to this report.