Tragedy as civilians flee after man dies in terrifying incident in Emerald Isle

EMERALD ISLE, Carteret County — An eastern North Carolina man says he was bitten by a shark while surfing in Emerald Isle at sunset.

“I look over, and I see a dorsal fin! I said oh man, that things coming right towards me,” Erik “Marty” Martynuik said. “It was like the movie Jaws, you know when it cruises and is gliding through the water?”
Fellow surfer, EugeneKloepell, was in the water with Martynuik when it happened.

“There was something behind him,chasing him,” recalled Kloepell. “I caught a wave and said ‘I’m out of here!’ That ain’t no blue fish, and I kept on paddling for all I was worth!”
Things soon got serious, according to Martynuik, who described the animal coming towards him in the water.

“It goes down, and at that time I start looking around and then BOOM!” he said. “It just nailed my board at the bottom!”

He says the shark then came after him, leaving marks on his foot and knee.

“Next thing you know, I felt a stinging feeling,” Martynuik recalled. “I gave him a good shot right to the nose and automatically he let go. That’s how I think I saved myself.”
Martynuik says he thankfully made it back to shore without suffering too much injury. While it left quite the mark on his board, he says it did not put much of a dent in his day.

Packed my knee with some surf wax and electrical tape and took my other back up board out,” he said. “I’m having lower back surgery in 5 days I’m not letting this rain on my parade!