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15-year-old boy gets stitches after apparent shark bite at NC beach

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. — A 15-year-old boy needed more than a dozen stitches after officials believe he was bitten by a shark while in the water at a North Carolina beach, WTVD reported.

Wrightsville Beach Fire Department Chief Glen Rogers said it happened Tuesday afternoon.

The teen’s family said he was in thigh-deep water when he got knocked over by a wave. Then when he got up, he felt pain and realized he was bitten on his right calf.

911 Ocean Rescue and the police department responded and took him to a hospital.

“He’s in pain of course, but the doctors took really good care of him,” one family member told WTVD.

Officials said nobody got a good look at what bit the boy but said they believe it was a shark. Rogers said he thinks it was a wide-mouth sand shark.

(Watch Below: How to avoid a shark attack)