Chuck Norris Area man punches shark to rescue his dog.
Greg LeNoir watched in horror as the shark's mouth opened wide, chomping a large set of teeth on his beloved 14-pound dog, Jake.
''Noooooo,'' LeNoir shrieked, fearing the worst. [...]
Jake, a 28-month-old dog adopted from an animal shelter, unexpectedly encountered the shark, which was about five feet long. As Jake disappeared under the water, LeNoir conquered his own fear and sprang to action.
''I clenched my fists and dove straight in with all my strength, like a battering ram,'' LeNoir, 53, said Sunday, reliving the frightening ordeal. ``I hit the back of the shark's neck. It was like hitting concrete.'' [...]
The shark let go of Jake, and the dog popped to the surface, frantically swimming the few yards to shore. LeNoir followed, paddling through a red trail of blood from the dog.
At VCA Upper Keys Animal Hospital in Islamorada, veterinarian Suzanne Sigel and emergency on-call assistant Callie Cottrell patched Jake's wounds.
''Amazingly, he wasn't critical,'' Sigel said. ``He's one lucky dog.''
The shark's teeth punctured Jake's skin and some muscle on the dog's abdomen, chest and back in a pattern that looked like ''an upside-down smile,'' Sigel said.
Jake also suffered lacerations on his right side and front left leg, with skin hanging like ribbons, LeNoir said.
''The shark put almost all of Jake in his mouth, except for his head and three of his legs,'' LeNoir said.
Sigel reexamined Jake on Monday and said the pooch is expected to recover.