"It's a full-time job, caring for Jesse. In 2001 it was a bull shark that infamously attacked 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Santa Rosa County and bit off his right arm. Doctors said he likely suffered some brain damage, the extent of which may not be known for a year. Patterson said Jessie responds by opening his eyes and appearing to gain a higher level of alertness, but he added "there's no purposeful communication.". Jessie was transferred two days later. He emerged slowly from a coma.unable to speak and still struggles with severe physical impairments today. "I heard a scream, turned to the water and saw a pool of blood where the three boys were.". "He takes it all in," Claire said. The uncle dragged the 90-kilogram shark straight out of the sea as others carried Jessie to shore. "Although he's not fully recovered, I feel that it's nothing short of a miracle that he has come this far and been able to actually survive," said Dr. Tim Livingston, a pediatric neurologist at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Pensacola. display: none; The shark also tore a large. And it seemed that if I held its tail up out of the water, it didn't have a lot of power," Vance Flosenzier said. "And within just a couple of minutes of landing they were back in the air, taking him toward Baptist Hospital.". Earlier this month, a New York man celebrating his wedding anniversary in the Bahamas had part of his left leg amputated after being attacked by a shark. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Family members are still hopeful of some reasonable recovery and feel his reception is OK but vocal expression is difficult. "They could see it was still lodged in its throat.". Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Jessie was the last surviving member of his immediate family and was also preceded in death by his brother and spouse, William Merle and Evelyn Growall Arbogast; and his six sisters and spouses: Myrtle Burkhammer, Elizabeth and husband Charles Francis Burke, Ruth and husband John William Renshaw, Lucille and husband Paul Huff, Virginia and husband John Lopuch and Jessies youngest sister, Anna Lee and husband Hermit G. Floyd. The open letter from Diana and Vance Flosenzier of Mobile, Ala., was published in Tuesday editions of the Pensacola News Journal. All rights reserved. Jessie Warden Arbogast, 99, passed away on Feb. 11, 2021. While he was a generous man, he was always shopping for great bargains and knew where all the best deals were. It may be a year before we know.". Community rallies to celebrate Iwo Jima veterans 99th birthday, Webster County vs Gilmer County girl's basketball highlights, Bridge Sports Complex Athlete of the Week - Sydney Baird, Fairmont Sr vs North Marion Wrestling - 1-17, Closed Captioning/Audio Description Complaints. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed All Rights Reserved. The Arbogast family issued a statement thanking people in Pensacola and around the world for their support and prayers and especially thanking the crew of the Baptist Flight helicopter that came to Jessie's aid on the beach "for making the hard choice.". The shark also tore a large chunk of muscle from the boy's right thigh. One man's leg was amputated, and another man suffered a serious leg injury. After the ranger pried the shark's jaw open with a police baton, a volunteer firefighter used a clamp to pull the boy's severed arm out of its gullet. Drawer 609, Ocean Springs, Miss. OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. It lit the fire, says George Burgess, director of shark research and the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "He still doesn't speak," Diana Flosenzier said. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Patterson said Jessie responds by opening his eyes and appearing to gain a higher level of alertness, but he added, "there's no purposeful communication. "It has been a bittersweet homecoming because, although we are very happy at the progress Jessie has made, we do not yet know how fully he will recover," the Flosenziers wrote. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Child remains found in Oklahoma amid search for missing 4-year-old "You just had to do,you just had to react," Diana said. }, First published on August 13, 2001 / 9:35 AM. UPDATE JUNE 27, 2009: From the Pensacola News-Journal: OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. And you know, that's kind of a haunting image to think back on, because I saw that as I was running up to it. Only Jessie's pale face was visible beneath a blue plastic tarp that shielded him from rain as ambulance personnel took him through his front door. Of course that in and of itself is horrible. Jessie, a member of the "Greatest Generation," was a. All rights reserved. re: Anyone remember the boy,Jessie Arbogast,who was bitten by a shark in Pensacola 20 yrs ago? At dusk, two days after the fourth of July, Jessie Arbogast was having a Kodak moment on the beach in Pensacola, Fla. Jessie, also bitten severely on the right thigh, was transferred to Pensacola's Sacred Heart Children's Hospital a couple of days later. At 16, Jessie wakes up almost each morning with a smile and interest in what's going on around him, said his mother, Claire Arbogast, his constant companion. Jessie was transferred two days later. , From Sacred Heart Health System: "Jessie's family says he continues to make slow progress in his rehabilitation from a brain injury and other injuries suffered in the shark attack. Last year, there were 79 shark attacks worldwide, 51 of them in the United States and 34 in Florida. "One new activity provides Jessie some opportunity to maneuver," she said. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his beloved wife of more than 74 years, Virgie Mae Horner Arbogast, in 2016; his youngest son, James David Arbogast, in 2003; and his great-grandson, Tyler Keenan Ritson, in 2002. It's been difficult for all of them, there's no doubt about that. Legal Statement. He's got a mustache and lively blue eyes. The Family would like to extend its grateful appreciation to Jessies aides who gave their love and care to him over the past five years: Pat Taylor, LPN, for her expertise and companionship, Natalie Moore for including Jessie as a member of her family, he loved her three children, and Donna Huey for funcar trips, ice cream andlollipops. That morning, Burgess arrived at work and did four or five interviews before the first plane hit the World Trade Center and his phone stopped ringing. "We were getting ready to go to supper and about to gather them out of the water whenI heard my son yell 'shark,'" says Vance Flosenzier, the uncle of Jessie Arbogast. To save two crucial minutes of flying time, the crew took Jessie to Baptist Hospital, where he was revived and his arm reattached, instead of Sacred Heart, which has a pediatric intensive care unit. Circumstance contributed to the shark hype hysteria first spurred by the release of Jaws in 1975 and kept alive by the Discovery Channels hugely popular Shark Week. Arrangements are being made by McCulla Funeral Home. And every subsequent sighting of sharks, or anything that had to do with sharks, became a story.. "There are no words or ways to express our thanks to the doctors, nurses and staff at both Baptist Hospital and Sacred Heart Children's Hospital, except to say we are eternally grateful.". 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. "It's been difficult for all of them, there's no doubt about that. The December call, Burgess says, was from a New York Times reporter looking to write a retrospective piece on what had, by then, become accepted wisdom: the hysteria around the so-called Summer of the Shark was completely unwarranted. Signs saying "Welcome Home Jessie" and yellow ribbons heralded his return. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest. "Jessie is speaking clearer words but no sentences," said his aunt, Diana Flosenzier of Hattiesburg. Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. "We were getting ready to go to supper, and about to gather them out of the water when I heard my son yell 'shark!' I believe he had his arm reattached but with the blood loss and trauma I don't think he was ever the same. Arbogast's uncle, Vance Flosenzier, wrestled the shark out of the water; a park ranger shot the shark and Arbogast's arm was pulled from the shark's gullet. The boy had no pulse and no blood pressure when he was airlifted to Baptist Hospital about 30 minutes after the attack. The Embrace: A Visit to the New Martin Luther (and Coretta!) Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. View the profiles of people named Jessi Arbogast. After the attack, Jessie got loads of mail. Vance and Diana Flosenzier raced toward where their children, their niece and their nephew, Jessie, had been wading in shallow water. You know, right before I seized its tail, that's what I saw.". The relatives expressed thanks to others who came to the aid of their nephew, whose arm was ripped off in a July 6 Florida shark attack. He's partial to blondes on TV. It is the first time the couple, who have refused media interviews, have commented on the attack. I mean, it had Jessie's arm and it was rolling , like, you know, you see them on a video clip, where they were engaged in trying to tear their prey apart. That summer, the public appetite for shark stories was strong and the media delivered. - Jessie Arbogast has come a long way in the eight years since a shark attack at Gulf Islands National Seashore, just west of Pensacola Beach, left him bedridden with a feeding tube. "I sure didn't want to let it go. The sharks co-operated by offering up a few particularly gruesome attacks. The uncle of Jessie Arbogast recalled a pool of blood and his nephew's screams in his account of a horrific July 6 shark attack in Pensacola, Florida, in a National Park Service report released . Emotional children greeted the 8-year-old boy as he arrived in an ambulance at his home in Ocean Springs, Miss. Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com, Aug. 28, 2001: Beachgoers in Florida walk past a warning sign prompted by a rash of shark attacks some fatal along the U.S. coastline. "I realized, 'I know what to do, I've got to breathe for him, there's nothing else to do.' display: none; Market data provided by Factset. He took great pleasure in taking photos and always carried a camera with him to meetings in case someone needed a photo. "What Jessie responds to the most is his own family and the people he seems to recognize," Patterson said. They praised the calm and professionalism of National Park Service rangers, quick action by a BaptistFlight helicopter crew and the skill of medical personnel at the two hospitals. ", Aunt & Uncle Of Jessie Arbogast Speak Out On Good Morning America, One dead, one in critical condition after Biloxi shooting, Margaritaville officials hold job fair to fill in positions for Paradise Pier, Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley report to prison, Woman accused of stabbing boyfriend for urinating in their bed after a night of drinking, South Mississippi Mental Health Resources. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. All Rights Reserved. No doubt, this was due to the austerity of his family situation during the Great Depression. P.W. The boy's kidneys have since improved and he no longer needs dialysis. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. For more than 10 minutes, she and others kept up CPR on Jesse, while Vance Flosenzier struggled to pull the shark away from children who were still in the water. He smiles, they say, each time they come to the door. It would all seem incidental after Sept. 11, 2001. All rights reserved. Last year, there were 79 shark attacks worldwide, 51 of them in the United States and 34 in Florida. "I couldn't believe what was happening," Vance said. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Still, the rescuers were in a state of shock. His wife said neither of them thought much about placing themselves in harm's way. The stories inside were measured, careful to underscore the rarity of a shark attack, but the cover packed a punch, declaring in bold print that this was the Summer of the Shark.. Vance Flosenzier, the uncle, spoke to ABCNEWS' Good Morning America, describing publicly for the first time how he rescued his nephew just over one year ago on an ocean beach near Pensacola, Fla. The Arbogasts, though, were just beginning a long, slow recovery with Jessie. MMI The Associated Press. He is now 16 with a mustache and lively blue . July 9, 2002 -- It has been one year since Jesse Arbogast, then 8, was mauled by a shark, and the uncle who rescued him is still haunted by the attack. Market data provided by Factset. The boy's right arm was ripped off by a 6-foot long bull shark while he was wading in knee-deep water off Langdon Beach in the Gulf Islands National Seashore on July 6. The shark reportedly was nearly 7 feet long, but her husband said he didn't give the size much thought. Legal Statement. "When I got there I realized it was Jesse, and the shark had him by the arm," Vance Flosenzier said. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Jessie's story faded from the limelight. "We would get mail addressed to 'The Mississippi boy who got bit by a shark,' and the post office knew where to deliver it," his mother said. He can communicate, and he can move his uninjured arm with purpose to pick up objects, not real well, but he can do that.