Sacramento couple saves California man attacked by shark during vacation
A group of good Samaritans including a vacationing Folsom couple rallied together Wednesday to help rescue a man who was seriously injured in a Central California shark attack.
The unusual shark encounter happened about 10:35 a.m. at Lovers Point Beach, according to police in the town of Pacific Grove. Before officers arrived on the scene, however, the victim caught the attention of three beachgoers who retrieved him from the water.
Sutter Health nurse Aimee Johns and her husband, Sacramento Police officer Paul Bandy, were celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary with paddleboarding at the popular Monterey Bay cove when they heard screams for help and noticed a man in distress.
“We didn’t hesitate when we heard the calls for help,” Johns said. “We knew that we just had to go in there and we didn’t know what we were encountering. It could be a shark actively still in the water — we didn’t know.”
Heath Braddock, a Monterey County resident teaching a surf lesson to a group of children on the beach, joined Johns and Bandy in their efforts, swimming out to the victim with a surfboard. The three rescuers then pulled the victim onto the board and brought him back to shore, Bandy explained, with Johns getting in the water to propel the board from behind.
“As the victim’s bleeding, there’s a bloody pool, and I’m thinking I could be the next shark-bite victim with my legs just kicking in the water like that,” Johns said. “I was terrified.”
The shark had bit the man in his abdomen and leg, police reported.
On the beach, the rescuers called authorities and began to administer first aid. Braddock described the wounds on the victim’s arms, legs and stomach as “the most severe wounds” he had ever seen on a person.
When emergency responders arrived at the beach, the man was transported to a hospital. Johns and Bandy said the victim successfully underwent surgery and regained consciousness.
“I was worried that he had sustained life-threatening injuries, because, as a nurse, I was just seeing so much blood loss and I was watching him passing out on the beach,” Johns said. “But when we found out he woke up out of surgery and was talking we were so grateful and so relieved and so happy that he survived this.”
Police have yet to release the name of the victim, but friends have told multiple news outlets he was Stephen Bruemmer, a resident of Monterey County who was part of a swimming club that frequented Lovers Point.
“We want to express our gratitude and appreciation to the good Samaritans that took immediate action and personal risk to assist the swimmer,” Pacific Grove officers said in a statement. “We send our prayers and thoughts to the swimmer and their family.”
While shark attacks are rare in California, another Sacramento-area resident was the victim of the last attack several miles south in Morro Bay. On Christmas Eve morning, Tomas Butterfield, 42, of Sacramento was killed by a shark while boogieboarding.
This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Sacramento couple saves California man attacked by shark during vacation."