A Shark Attack Put His Life in Jeopardy, But God!

“We're nine miles offshore and our son is bleeding to death.” Says Jameson Reeder Sr.  “He's actively dying. And I hold him in my arms and I look in his big beautiful blue eyes and I just scream, ‘No’, and horror and denial of all of that and there's nothing I could do.”

Jameson Reeder Sr, his wife Mary and their four children were enjoying a day of boating and snorkeling at Florida’s Looe Key Reef when their perfect day took a tragic turn. Mary Reeder remembers, “I was cleaning up from lunch on the boat, and I just heard this scream of terror, horror. And I knew that something was wrong with Jamison.”

Ten-year-old Jameson Jr had been snorkeling near the boat filming a sea turtle as it swam by, when suddenly, screaming can be heard.

“He's waving his arms calling out, ‘Dad, Mom’, and, and he's white. And so we know he's in shock and something's not right.” Says Jameson Sr.

Mary says, “And when Senior pulled him out of the water was when I saw right across my face was his tibia bone. From his knee to His ankle was just a bone.”

“The tibia had shark teeth marks all over it. We knew immediately he had just been attacked by a massive shark.” Says Jameson Sr. 

Mary says, “My son's gonna die right here. your whole world comes crashing down. I grabbed a rash guard and I tied it on his leg. And I just kept looking at him and I kept saying, ‘Jamison, do not close your eyes. Keep looking at mommy. Keep breathing, keep looking at mommy. Keep breathing. Keep your eyes open.’ He had practically lost all his blood in the water. ‘What are we going to do Lord?’ I kept calling out to Jesus, ‘Please don't take my son. Jesus, please don't take my son.’

In the midst of the fear and panic, a small voice gave hope and clarity. Jameson Sr. recalls, “He's about to die and I'm gonna hold him in my arms as he dies. And he says to me, ‘Daddy, it's okay. Jesus is gonna save me.’ And it was just like the hope of heaven came crashing in. And that just brought me out of my shock.”

It would take over 45 minutes to reach shore in their boat. By then their son would likely bleed out. They raced to a nearby yacht and pleaded for faster transport. 911 was called to meet them on shore while Jameson Sr. Agonized about what to do. He says, “I can't leave our boat. I've got us on our boat with my other kids, knowing that Mary and Jameson would get on that boat and speed away. I was so torn to, to let him go. But as I'm letting him go, I just sense the Lord say to me, it's okay. I'll hold him until you get here.”

Mary says, “And we’re flying over the water to get into shore. And I hear noise and I'm, and I'm like, ‘are you singing?’ And I leaned down my ear and he was singing, ‘Here I am to worship’. So I started singing with him.

As Mary and Jameson raced to shore, Jameson Sr. Called friends and family for urgent prayer. He says, “We've seen and believed in the power of prayer and knew that that was the only real thing that could help. That was the only real thing that gave us hope. And the, the help and hope of other people praying was our lifeline in that moment.”

They made it to shore in ten minutes. EMTs worked to stabilize Jameson while he was driven, then flown to a trauma hospital in Miami. Unsure of his son’s survival, Jameson Sr called his wife for an update. He recalls asking, “’How is Jamison?, what's, is he alive?’ And she's like, ‘honey, he's gonna be okay.’ I just felt the reality, God is not just for us. God is with us in this moment. He's holding all of us. Just as he told me he would hold Jamison. He was holding all of us.”

Doctors performed emergency surgery to save Jameson’s life and if possible, his leg. Mary recalls, “The doctors had come out halfway through as we were in the waiting room and they said, ‘okay, well, first of all, he's, he's alive. 'cause we had to replenish practically all of his blood.’ And they said, ‘but we do need to amputate his leg.’ I never was mad or upset. I just was thankful, very thankful. I thank God all day, every day for saving his life.”

While recovering from surgery, Jameson told his parents the vision he had shortly after being pulled from the water. He says, “It appears to me at first a man on fire. But then after that, it clears up to be Jesus floating above me, just comforting me and giving me peace and just this amazing warmth that I then I know I'm going to be okay.”

Before he left the hospital, Jameson told his dad there was something he needed to do, go back to the reef. “He says, ‘dad, I have to face my fear. I can't let the shark, my leg in this hospital be my greatest nightmare.’ And our kind of our minds turn to corner from just surviving to, we're gonna find a way to not only move forward, but but to thrive.” Says Jameson Sr. 

Ten weeks after the shark attack they returned to the reef. Jameson says, “I jumped back into the water. All my friends and family were there and had an amazing time. my parents actually had to pull me outta the water once it was time to leave.”

Jameson continues to live life to the fullest, playing sports and sharing his testimony whenever he can. Their book, Rescue at the Reef tells the story of Jameson’s miraculous survival and the hand of God that made his rescue possible.

“We have a reality that we have a savior that's in this. He's with us, he's for us.” Says Jameson Sr. “And he continues to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or imagine or desire.”