'Everything is fine, but I got bit by a shark': Dalton State golfer bounces back from shark bite while surfing to return to the course -- and the waves

Apr. 6—Brandon Boncore knew that being bitten by a shark while surfing was always a possibility.

That's the reality when surfing at New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County, Florida, known as the "Shark Bite Capital of the World."

Of the 16 shark bites that were recorded statewide across Florida in 2023, half of them happened within the county.

"When you go out on the water, it's the number one thing on your mind," Boncore said. "I got over that fear, because, when you go out there all the time and see sharks, you realize they're not out to get you."

Just before Boncore was set to move to Dalton to play men's golf and attend Dalton State College last August, the future resident of the "Carpet Capital of the World" became a statistic in the "Shark Bite Capital of the World."

"I had been surfing there in New Smyrna for two or three months, like a lot," Boncore remembered. "It was genuinely going to be my last day to surf before I left to headed up to Dalton."

Boncore, a prolific surfer and current senior on the Dalton State men's golf team, was going to be new to Dalton State for the 2023-24 school year. The Oviedo, Florida, native spent his first three years of college playing golf at Eastern Florida State, allowing him to stay near the water and his other passion of surfing.

Getting set to move inland for his senior season, Boncore wanted to spend as much time as he could surfing before heading to Dalton.

"It's a pretty crowded local spot, there were 200 or 300 people out there," Boncore said. "I caught my last wave of the day. I didn't land it, and went down."

Boncore said he was heading back to his surf board when he felt the bite.

"I grabbed my board and was about to get back on, and I just felt a huge crunch on my left foot. There was just a lot of pressure."

Boncore didn't get a good look at the shark that attacked him, but thinks it might have been a blacktip shark, a variety that on average is about 5 feet in length and 150 pounds. Blacktips are common sights at New Smyrna Beach, which is about 15 miles south of Daytona Beach along the Florida coast.

"It definitely hurt, but it was a weird kind of pain. It wasn't what you would think," Boncore said. "It was like 'something's got me, and it's going to pull me down.' I kicked my right foot at it."

Boncore's kick was enough to get the shark away from him, and he started to paddle back to shore.

"I knew right away what it was. You don't know how bad it is," he said. "I didn't know if my foot might be gone. I just saw a bunch of blood."

When Boncore got back to the beach, he was relieved to find his foot still intact, though he couldn't tell how bad the injuries were. By chance, a paramedic happened to be surfing next to Boncore and helped him stabilize his foot and staunch the bleeding.

A few onlookers helped Boncore prop his feet up until an ambulance arrived. Boncore then spent hours in the hospital before going through surgery.

"The injections were honestly what hurt the most," Boncore said. "By that time, my foot was super sensitive, and I felt the bite after that."

Boncore said, despite the inherently unlucky event of being bitten by a shark, he got pretty lucky with the extent of the injuries.

He'd torn some ligaments in his foot, but the bite hadn't affected any of his arteries or his achilles tendon.

"I was thinking that this could put me out for a year or more. I got pretty lucky there," Boncore said. "I still had a long recovery, but it could have been worse."

Boncore escaped the encounter with a lot of stitches and a prescription for two months of walking on crutches, but doctors believed he would mostly heal from the bite damage.

Even before Boncore got to the hospital, he was already thinking about how the injury would affect his ability to play golf for the Roadrunners.

After he made a first call in the ambulance to let his father know what had happened, Boncore's next call was to Dalton State head men's golf coach Ben Rickett.

"Everything is fine, but I got bit by a shark," Boncore remembers telling his new coach. "I think a lot of other coaches would have dropped me, given that circumstance, with me not able to play the whole fall. I was really thankful that I still got to head up to Dalton and play golf."

After getting out of the hospital, a still-on-crutches Boncore moved to Dalton State.

"I didn't know anybody. I was going into a new dorm, trying to move in with crutches," Boncore said. "The first month was tough. It was hard to go to sleep, because my foot was so sensitive."

Boncore said he could barely move his foot in the first few days after the attack.

But still, Rickett and the Dalton State program stuck with him, and Boncore made it his mission to get back on the golf course.

"I was realizing pretty quickly that it was going to take some time," Boncore said. "We have some great trainers that really care for the athletes, and they took care of me every day."

Boncore said an earlier injury experience, although it occurred in very different circumstances, helped him navigate his recovery from the shark attack.

A wrist injury kept him sidelined for over a year earlier in his golfing career.

"I knew what it felt like, I knew what it was not to have golf in my life," he said. "It was a mental battle more than it was a physical battle. It's pretty easy to get down on yourself."

Boncore's injuries began to improve, and, by Dalton State's second event of the fall portion of the schedule in late September, Boncore was walking in a boot and able to travel with the team.

By the third, in early October, Boncore said he probably could have actually played golf, but walking the course for as many holes as would be required would be a bigger challenge.

But, by late October, almost three months since the attack, Boncore was making his Dalton State golf debut.

He competed as an individual as Dalton State won the Tennessee Intercollegiate in Vonore, Tennessee.

Boncore triple bogeyed his first official hole back, but settled down enough to shoot an 81 in his first round. He went 81-74-78 in the tournament, finishing in a tie for 28th in the individual standings.

"I realized I had a lot of work to do, but it was a good stepping stone for where I was."

Now, as the Roadrunners are in the midst of their spring schedule, Boncore said that the bite no longer affects his golf game.

He still has some lingering effects of nerve damage to his foot, and he's still visiting a trainer to help rebuild feeling.

"It doesn't affect how I play, but sometimes when I'm walking, it will kind of freeze up," Boncore said. "It honestly affects my surfing more than it does golf."

Of course Boncore wanted to continue surfing, despite the bite. He said there wasn't ever really any question that he would wind up back on the board.

"I went right back in the water. There was no doubt," he said. "Sometimes I think about it when I fall off the board, but I really don't care. It doesn't bother me when I'm in the water.