Teen surfer Michael Adler recounts surviving shark attack on foot; 'grateful' to anonymous stranger who helped save his foot

A teen surfer swam for his life after a shark bit down on his foot in Central Florida over the weekend. Sixteen-year-old Michael Adler shares his story on "Starting Point" this morning.

“As soon as it did a little head shake when it had my the foot, I knew it was a shark,” Michael says about the attack. He immediately put the injured foot above water and started paddling to shore before he noticed a “pretty big gash.”

A stranger on the beach helped treat Michael’s wound with a tourniquet made of his surfboard leash on the scene, a move doctors' say saved his foot. “I'm very grateful for the guy,” Michael says. “We tried tracking him down, but we couldn't find him. And no one really knows who he was.”

Already, Michael is ready to reenter the water. "When I was sitting there, I could see the perfect waves breaking,” Michael says. “I really wanted to go back in.”