911 operator ‘calm’ while on shark call

MANATEE -- It was Amy Todd’s first “shark bite” and it would make headlines worldwide.

Todd, a dispatcher at the Manatee County Emergency Communications Center, was on duty at 3 p.m. Saturday when a nine-foot bull shark took a 14-inch bite out of the left thigh of Charles “CJ” Wickersham of Longboat Key.

At the time, Wickersham and six friends were on a boat, six miles out in the sea, spear fishing and relaxing in inflatables north of the Rod & Reel Pier off Anna Maria Island.

One of those friends, Kiera Dunn, had the most bars on her cell phone so she made the 911 call that was aired on Good Morning America and can be found on bradenton.com today.

“It was my first shark bite and the thing I am proudest of is that I was able to remain calm,” said Todd, who credits her “A” Shift colleagues at the Emergency Communications Center in making the rescue operation a success.

Todd and her peers made sure it took under nine minutes from the moment Wickersham was bitten until he was met by a Manatee County Medic 4 ambulance team and West Manatee Fire Rescue personnel at the Rod & Reel Pier.

On Tuesday night, Wickersham remained at Bayfront Medical Center after surgeons used nearly 800 sutures to close the bite wound.

“He is hurting,” Ella Wickersham, CJ’s mother, said of her son Tuesday. “He told doctors his pain is a six or seven on a scale of 10. It was not that bad when the leg was wrapped tightly, but now, he is feeling it. You have to understand, the shark has two rows of bottom teeth and those teeth went through a lot of muscle.”

So far, no infection has set in from the bite, Ella Wickersham said.

But CJ’s story has gone viral.

His shark bite tale was on Shepard Smith’s national Fox News broadcast Tuesday, just part of the worldwide attention that has kept the family’s phones tied up.

“You know the kids left all of their gear out there when they raced CJ in, but part of what makes this story amazing is that a friend of the six, Chris Jensen, came upon CJ’s spear gun and the chairs and picked it all up,” Ella Wickersham said.

Todd praised her teammates for all doing exactly what they were trained to do.

“I turned to one of my fellow dispatchers and said, ‘This is real,’” Todd recalls. I was very relieved he was OK.”

Todd also had praise for Dunn, the woman who called 911 and provided all the information that Todd used to render assistance.

“She was wonderful,” Todd said. “She did a fantastic job. I’m very proud of her.

“But they all remained calm,” Todd added of the six friends who helped rescue Wickersham.

“When everyone panics, the patient panics and things go downhill fast. But they gave me all the critical information I needed, like how he was breathing and if he was experiencing any chest pain. If he had gone into cardiac arrest, we would have had to take a different approach. She kept us informed every step of the way.”

Not everyone was thrilled with CJ’s Jaws-like tale.

“We are glad that Mr. Wickersham will be OK,” said Ashley Byrne, a spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as PETA.

“But we hope after this painful experience he will consider the terror and pain that fish feel when they are impaled and suffocated to death and consider taking up another pastime.”

PETA is looking to either put up a billboard or bus bench advertisements in Manatee County in response to Wickersham’s spear fishing.

“Sharks attack and kill to survive, but we, humans, can choose not to eat fish or go fishing,” Byrne said.

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 748-0411, ext. 7786.

This story was originally published September 28, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "911 operator ‘calm’ while on shark call."