Illinois Teen Attacked by Shark: 'Thought My Whole Leg Was Almost Gone'

HOMER GLEN, IL — A Homer Glen teen is on the mend after nearly losing his leg—and his life — in a shark attack in the Bahamas.

Johnny Stoch, 15, was snorkeling last week when the shark closed in on him. His mother screamed when she spotted the creature.

"I saw a big gray head about a foot wide and it was on my leg, tearing through," Johnny told ABC 7 Chicago. "I kicked its nose and it went up to get me again and then it let go and swam away."

WARNING: The photo below is graphic.

His parents hurried to get him out of the bloody waters and into the boat.

"They pull him out and when I see his leg my heart is up here. I start swimming as fast as I can to the boat," his father John told ABC.

Johnny thought he had lost his leg entirely, but doctors were able to reconstruct the calf.

And get this — he still thinks sharks are cool.

"I don't blame it at all," he said. "I still like them, I'm not afraid of them!"

Photo: Greg Grimes, Wikimedia Commons