Surfer Bitten by Shark

A day at the beach cut short by sharp teeth.

A shark takes a bite out of a surfer's foot.

The victim is a 27 year old woman from Palm Beach Gardens.

She was surfing in Jupiter late Friday afternoon when a shark clamped down on her foot.

The victim is listed in good condition at Jupiter Medical Center.

Her mother says her daughter will be okay.

She's been surfing for years, but this is the first time she's ever had such a close encounter with a shark.

For Melissa Hardcastle of Palm Beach Gardens, surfing is her passion.

She just cant seem to get enough of it.

But a fun-filled afternoon at the beach turned into chaos for the 27 year old woman, when she was attacked by a shark while surfing near Carlin Park in Jupiter.

Her mother spoke with us outside the emergency room..

"She was just riding a wave in and a shark bit her foot, just like somebody clamping something on her foot and she knew instantly that she got bit," said Pat Hardcastle, Melissa's mother.

She stayed on her surfboard and paddled to shore, according to another relative who talked with Melissa at the hospital.

Once she made it to shore, lifeguards took her to the Jupiter Reef Club, and she was then rushed to the hospital by paramedics.

Her mother got quite a scare, when Melissa called from the hospital Friday evening to tell her she had just been bitten by a shark. "Oh my God! Yeah, really. She says I have my foot. I'm fine," Hardcastle said.

The incident happened about 5pm Friday and according to her mother, Melissa was surfing alone. She never saw the shark, doesn't know what kind it was or how big it was, but she certainly felt it when it clamped down on her left foot.

"She's got some marks, she's lucky to have her foot, but she's good, very good," Hardcastle said.

Whether she'll go back into the water again and keep surfing, her mom is not sure. She says she'll leave that decision up to Melissa once she gets out of the hospital.

She just feels her daughter is really lucky that her injuries are not worse.

"Very lucky. Somebody up there was really looking out for her," Hardcastle told us.

Melissa Hardcastle, a graduate of Palm Beach Gardens High, is single and has no children.

She works at a local day spa.

Her mother says she'll be kept in the hospital overnight, and she'll have surgery Saturday morning to clean out the wound from the shark bite.

She believes with a little luck, her daughter will be released from the hospital following surgery on Saturday.