Georgia man fights off shark in Florida waters to save his pregnant fiancée

Jacorey High, 21, punched the four-foot animal in the nose after it bit his foot twice and repeatedly lunged at him as he tried to escape the water

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A Georgia man will need months of recovery after a shark bit his foot as he pushed his pregnant fiancée to safety off the Florida coast over the weekend.

Jacorey High, 21, was swimming in waist-deep water with his fiancée, Morgan Mims, near the Dunlawton Avenue approach in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday when the attack happened. High said he was on a weeklong vacation celebrating with Mims, who is pregnant with their first child, when the animal struck without warning.

“My first thought was to push my pregnant girlfriend toward the shore, to keep her away from the shark,” High told the Daytona Beach News-Journal .

High said he did not see the animal coming before it clamped onto his left leg. Beach officials reported that the shark bit High twice in rapid succession.

According to an incident report from Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, High punched the shark in the nose, forcing the animal to release its grip and swim off.

“As soon as I got bit, I kept shoving her toward the beach area, and then that’s when I started thinking about myself when I saw she was on the sand,” High told CBS affiliate WKMG-TV .

High described the shark as approximately four feet long, grey on top and roughly the size of his leg. He recounted how the animal lunged at him repeatedly as he scrambled to escape.

“Once I got him off my foot, it come up and tried to get my arm, so I had to push it away from me, and as I was running out it tried to get my other leg,” High told the outlet.

High managed to reach a lifeguard tower on the beach before collapsing. He only realized the extent of the damage once he reached safety and saw blood pouring from his foot.

“I realized right away it was a shark because of the way it bit down on my foot, but I was more worried about getting my fiancé out of the water,” High told Fox 5 Atlanta . “Then it came up to try to get my arm, so I had to push it away from me. I ran, and it tried to get my other leg.

“I didn't really feel it until I got to the hospital when they started giving me medicine for it.”

High was transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for severe tissue damage.

“It tore up all the ligaments and tendons from my upper left ankle down to the middle bottom of my foot,” High told the Daytona Beach News-Journal .

High was discharged from the hospital Monday afternoon to begin his journey back home to McDonough, Georgia. Doctors advised him that his recovery would take at least three months, leaving him unable to work his job laying gas lines.

“Hoping that it didn't really mess up anything important in my foot so that I can go back to work,” High told Fox 5 Atlanta .

To assist with medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and living expenses, High created a GoFundMe campaign seeking $100,000. By Tuesday morning, donors had contributed around $1,300 to the fund.

Unprovoked shark encounters are rare globally, with marine life experts at the Georgia Aquarium estimating 60 to 65 incidents worldwide each year. However, figures from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File show Florida recorded the highest number of unprovoked shark bites in the U.S. in 2025, with Volusia County accounting for more than half of the state's incidents that year.

Despite the severe injuries and financial strain, High said he had no regrets about his actions.

“That’s the person I love the most, and I would rather see her safe than me,” High told WKMG-TV.

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