Shark attacks are incredibly rare, in fact, you're more likely to get struck by lightning than you are attacked by a shark. But that hasn't stopped companies from using fear to sell products.
One of them is a ‘shark repelling band’, called SharkBanz, which gives out a magnetic field which is designed to disrupt the electro receptors sharks use to navigate. The company claims that this doesn't harm sharks, but makes wearers far less likely to fall victim to a shark attack.
But one mother is demanding a refund of the $80 she paid for one of these bands after her son was attacked by a shark while wearing a band.
Zack Davis, from Florida, has been surfing since he was young and has never even come close to a shark before. But while he was at Avalon Beach State Park over the holiday break, he decided to try out the new shark repelling armband which he got for Christmas.
That's when Zack was attacked. He was bitten, but managed to wrestle his arm away and was able to use his leash as a tourniquet.
Zack Davis
"It was like shocking. It wasn’t really painful," he told CBS12. "Honestly I wasn’t really in pain I was just like oh my gosh I need to do something with this quick, so I just took my leash from my board and just wrapped it around my arm because I didn’t want to lose any blood."
Zack was rushed to the hospital, where he had to have 44 stitches to repair the damage.
"I got this for Christmas. It is a shark band and it was supposed to keep sharks away and the first time I wore it, and I go surfing a lot, but the first time I wore it- I get bit."
SharkBanz told CBS12 in a statement:
"We're in the process of gathering all known facts about the encounter from the victim. It's important for us to assess all the information regarding the circumstances in order to understand the shark's behavior, what ultimately caused the bite, and whether it was preventable."
"We're relieved to see that Zach is already patched up and out of the hospital with plans to return to the water as soon as he's able."
"SharkBanz is giving Zack new wristbands and company scientists reviewed the incident and believe the shark let go of the boy's arm quicker because of the technology. They also believe, according to their review, Zack fell on the shark and startled it, which led to the rare and unpreventable attack."
from Distractify http://distractify.com/trending/2017/01/03/teenager-shark-repelling-armband-attacked-by-shark
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