A shark attacked a 10-year-old Colorado boy while he played knee-deep in the water during a family vacation in Cancun, Mexico.
The shark was caught in a large wave and tore into Dillon Armijo's leg on March 17, a family friend wrote on GoFundMe to help with medical bills and physical therapy.
Armijo was airlifted to a U.S. hospital, where he underwent several surgeries to repair two broken bones, extensive nerve damage, severed tendons and a torn meniscus, wrote the fundraiser organizer, Kari Flauding, who identified herself as a friend of the boy's family.
"You always say this won't happen to you, but it unfortunately did," Flauding wrote.
His older brother and lifeguard mother rescued him and rushed him to a hospital.
He spent several days in the hospital in Mexico, but the damage was too extensive, so he was airlifted to Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado.
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Denver7 had an exclusive interview with Dillon from the hospital.
"We went to the beach and wanted to swim or jump in waves and then like, five minutes after that, like a shark just came into like, a wave and just bit my leg," Dillon told Denver7.
The latest on Dillon's condition came on March 24, when Flauding said all his surgeries were a success.
"Dillon’s final surgery was today, and they successfully repaired almost all the damage from the shark bite thanks to an amazing surgical team and a tissue donor," she wrote.
"He will walk again in time but will require a lot of physical therapy. He should be discharged and resume his care at home this coming week."