Wheelchair-Bound Teen Catches 250-pound Shark Off Florida Coast

Matt Sechrist, 19, caught the 8-foot lemon shark after a one-hour struggle.

A wheelchair-bound teen with no legs is celebrating after catching an 8-foot, 250-pound shark off the North Florida coast.

The St. Augustine Record reports that Matt Sechrist, a 19-year-old student from Clay County, reeled in the lemon shark while sitting in his wheelchair on Vilano Beach.

A family friend dropped bait off the coast, then Sechrist put the brakes on his wheelchair and strapped on a fighting harness. Friends and family members held the chair in place while Sechrist struggled to catch the shark.

Man Wrestles Shark With Bare Hands

After an hour, the shark tired and Sechrist reeled it in. The group took photos, revived the shark and released it into the ocean.

"That’s a memory that I’ll be able to keep forever,” Sechrist told the Record. “That’s a special moment that I can use. Just one more thing on the resume of things that I’ve done.”

Sechrist has gone skydiving and waterskiing, wrestled in middle school and plans on playing wheelchair basketball this year at school, according to the Record. He starts college this week to pursue a major in human performance, so he can train other wheelchair-bound athletes.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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