Five years ago after Charles “C.J.” Wickersham suffered a life-threatening shark bite, he and the young people who rallied to his rescue held a reunion of sorts.
The group gathered for a dinner earlier this month.
Wickersham and friends Oceanna Beard, Connor Bystrom, Kiera Dunn, Max Gazzo, Katie Mattas and Lee White were about 6 miles offshore of Anna Maria Island, at about 3 p.m. Sept. 24, 2011, when a bull shark attacked Wickersham as he floated in the water.
In short time, Wickersham’s friends had him in a 25-foot outboard racing toward the Rod & Reel Pier and awaiting first-responders with Manatee County Emergency Medical Services, West Manatee Fire Rescue and Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Wickersham underwent multiple procedures, including surgery on his leg that involved closing his wound using 60 packs of sutures — about 800 stitches.
“C.J. has an angel on his shoulder for sure,” Jeannie Bystrom, mother of Connor Bystrom, said five years ago.
In October 2011, the three island cities, the town of Longboat Key and The Islander held a ceremony in Holmes Beach honoring the local rescuers, all of them with local ties.