OCEAN CITY — A Montgomery County man bitten by a shark while surfing at Assateague State Park on May 17 has shared his first-person account of the encounter, saying the mental trauma of the attack has affected him more than the physical injury.
Brendan Oster, 36, was surfing on the north side of the state park entrance around 11:30 a.m. on a clear, sunny day with 2- to 3-foot waves and light winds. He had just finished playing golf and drove to the park, where he joined two other surfers he did not know — a man and a woman — about 75 yards offshore near sandbars typical of the area. A surf fisherman and beach observers were nearby.
Oster said he was paddling when a shark clamped onto his right hand. He described seeing a wide gray head and feeling as if he were being stabbed multiple times while water thrashed around him. The shark released his hand moments later. Oster slipped off his board, panicked and began paddling toward shore while repeatedly looking for the shark in the murky water. He caught a wave on his knees, nosedived near the beach and paddled the final distance before collapsing on the sand, yelling for help.
Bystanders rushed to assist. The female surfer, identified as Tracy Axel, director of high performance for Team USA Olympic Surfing, paddled in and used a surfboard leash as a tourniquet. Axel, who splits time between Berlin, Md., and Santa Monica, Calif., holds a master’s degree in exercise science and has surf-emergency training. Her friend Bonnie Preziso, who witnessed the attack from the beach, helped comfort Oster and stayed with him throughout.
A man who identified himself as a brain surgeon, later named Dr. Amiel Bethel, former director of the Neuroscience Institute at Geisinger Community Medical Center, wrapped the wound and called 911. Another surfer, Chris Morandi, carried Oster’s board to his car. Oster said the immediate aid from Axel, Preziso, Bethel and Morandi helped him stabilize and move from the beach to the parking lot.
While waiting for an ambulance, an off-duty lifeguard reported that a Maryland Department of Natural Resources officer had tripped and fallen while responding, sustaining a serious chest and head wound. The officer later regained consciousness. EMS arrived, cleaned the wound briefly and offered transport. Oster suggested the ambulance take the injured officer instead and said he would drive himself. He signed a form at the scene before heading to a local urgent care facility.
The urgent care doctor examined his hand for about 15 seconds and directed him to the emergency room at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin. Oster said he waited roughly three hours at the hospital before his hand was unwrapped, photographed, cleaned with iodine and x-rayed. He was discharged around 6:30 p.m. and drove home that evening after stopping for pizza. He returned to work the next day.
Oster, who has surfed Assateague for 22 years, noted that sharks are known to frequent the area and that murky Mid-Atlantic waters make visibility difficult. He released pre-treatment photos from his MyChart record at Atlantic General Hospital, taken before his hand was wrapped for most of the day. He emphasized that the physical wound is secondary to the psychological impact.
“The entire internet collectively agrees that I am one of the worst human beings ever because I didn’t lose my entire arm,” Oster wrote in his account, responding to online criticism and media coverage. He apologized for a joking remark about wanting the shark’s head and said he forgives the animal. He plans to return to surfing soon.
The Maryland State Police and Department of Natural Resources have not released an official incident report on the bite or the officer’s injury. No further details on the shark species or size were confirmed beyond Oster’s description of a gray shark with a back 1.5 to 2 feet wide. Shark bites remain rare along Maryland’s coast.
Assateague State Park, Maryland’s only oceanfront state park, is known for its surf breaks created by offshore sandbars and attracts surfers from across the region. The park lies within the Assateague Island National Seashore and is managed for both recreation and wildlife protection.
