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Santa Clarita Man Helped Save Swimmer Bitten By Shark At Manhattan Beach

A Santa Clarita man helped save the swimmer who was bitten by a shark off the coast of Manhattan Beach on Saturday.


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Around 9:30 a.m., a 7-foot juvenile shark bit Steven Robles, 40, near a buoy a couple hundred yards away from the pier, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Casey Fenwick, 31 of Stevenson Ranch, was surfing near the Manhattan Pier when he heard Robles screaming, he said.

“We tried to flag down a lifeguard and I was already halfway out there. A paddleboarder showed up right before I did,” said Fenwick. “Two swimmers stopped and kept the man afloat. When I got out there, I just saw a lot of blood. I didn’t actually see the bite till I got to shore.”

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The two swimmers, the paddleboarder and Fenwick put the injured Robles onto the paddle board and pushed him to shore, he said.

“As soon as I got there, I saw the shark was 5 feet away from us,” said Fenwick. “Looking back on that, it was kind of like, I didn’t even really put the two together, I was just concerned about getting the guy help and getting out of the water. It’s now kind of hitting me that this could have been a bad deal.”

The shark tried to bite through the fishing line that he was hooked on and ended up biting the swimmer under his arm, according the NBC News reports.

“It wasn’t a full-size bite,” said Captain Tracy Lizotte of the LACFD. “It didn’t seem to be a large bite.”

Santa Clarita Man Helped Save Swimmer Bitten By Shark In Manhattan Beach

Some witnesses believe a group of fisherman angered the shark when they caught it on a hook while fishing off of the pier, NBC reports.


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“A fisherman who was with the group that hooked the shark said they were looking to catch and release bat rays and tiger sharks,” according to NBC News reports. “He said they kept the shark on the fishing line because they did not want to release it near people in the water.”

Officials closed the beach for hours and are not planning to reopen it for fishing until Tuesday.

Fenwick has been surfing since he was about 10 years old and this is not the first time he has saved a life.

“My father was diagnosed with leukemia and they went thru the whole process of trying to find a donor,” said Fenwick. “There were two guys in Greece that were close to a match but it didn’t work out with them.”

About 10 years ago, Fenwick, who was a match to his father, went through the process of donating bone marrow.

“They took the marrow from my hips and they took a total of 1600 cubic centimeters from my hips, and they could only take a couple of cubic centimeters at a time,” said Fenwick. “There were a hundred holes in my hips. They put the bone marrow in my dad’s i.v. and he was pretty much back to new.”

Fenwick would be unconscious for about four hours during the process.

“it’s not a fun or comfortable process. It was the worst muscle cramps in my entire life,” Fenwick said. “Something like that, I didn’t think about anything else but trying to help my dad.”

Contributions courtesy of NBC News.

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Santa Clarita Man Helped Save Swimmer Bitten By Shark At Manhattan Beach

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About Jessica Boyer

Jessica is an award-winning journalist, photographer, videographer and artist. She has worked with news organizations including NBC Los Angeles, KHTS AM 1220, and the Pierce College Roundup News. She is studying to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism with an emphasis on Photojournalism and a minor in Communications at California State University, Northridge. She has studied and worked in many fields including filmmaking, journalism, studio photography, and some graphic design. She began her journalism journey at the Arroyo Seco Conquestador News Network and the Saugus High School News Network.