229 MTSU FRESHMAN SURVIVES SHARK SHOCK TO WALK INTO NURSING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 7, 2008
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

MTSU FRESHMAN SURVIVES SHARK SHOCK TO WALK INTO NURSING
Bite and Blood Convince Craig Hutto to Switch from Computers to Health Care

(MURFREESBORO) – When MTSU student Craig Hutto lost a leg, he gained a new appreciation of the medical profession—one so intense that it prompted him to change his major.
A week before his 17th birthday in June 2005, the Lebanon youngster was on vacation with his family at Cape Sand Blas, about 50 miles southeast of Panama City. As Craig was fishing with his brother Brian when a bull shark estimated to be six to eight feet long attacked Craig’s right leg. Brian grabbed his brother and tried desperately to pull him to shore as Craig tried to pry the creature’s jaws open only to witness his hands being ripped to shreds.
“Right when it bit me, I went straight into shock,” Craig says. “So I don’t know the exact spot where it bit me, but I know it bit me from mid-thigh all the way down in different spots.”
Unbeknownst to Craig at the time, the shark’s teeth had pierced his right femoral artery, which carries blood from the heart to the lower extremities. It was bleeding from this artery that cost Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor his life when he was shot in November 2007. Medical professionals say controlling hemorrhaging in the immediate aftermath of an injury to this artery is critical.
“To my advantage, there were three nurses, an EMT (emergency medical technician) and a doctor on the shore, just on vacation,” Craig says, “and right when I got on the shore, they immediately did what they were trained to do, which was elevate my right leg and then hold pressure on … my right femoral artery. I mean, they did everything they were supposed to do, and I believe that’s why I’m still alive today.”
While the ambulance arrived on the scene within 10 minutes, Craig had to wait inside the ambulance for 45 minutes for the LifeFlight helicopter to transport him to a Panama City hospital. He stayed there two-and-a-half weeks, enduring six operations. He walks today with a titanium prosthesis. However, when he concentrates on his walking, there is no evidence of a device because the shark did not rip his quadriceps muscle.
“Every time I walk, I’m supposed to fire the quad where I can just be sturdy and I won’t limp, but I always get lazy and just forget to do it,” Craig says. “I still walk around with a little limp all the time.”
Returning to athletics with an artificial leg was an issue for Craig, who excelled at baseball and basketball prior to the attack. He did not want to be the focus of undue attention or the recipient of pity from his competitors. Even so, in 2006, he flew to California and competed in a triathlon, forming a three-man team with both of his brothers. Brian ran; Zach biked; Craig swam. It was the first time he entered ocean water since the accident.
“I wasn’t too worried about it, honestly, until I got in the water,” Craig says, “and once I was in the water, I wasn’t freaking out, but I was questioning myself—like, why was I doing this?”
With the training of a coach who taught Craig how to adjust his swimming technique to accommodate the loss of his leg, the former lifeguard completed the 1.2 mile swim in 35 minutes.
“It’s just finding the balance on top of the water and then rotating your hips, not just your legs,” Craig says.
He altered more than just his swimming style. He changed his mind about the direction of his life. Craig says he was thinking about a career in computer science prior to the accident, but he says his tragic experience made him realize how important doctors and nurses really are. Now Craig is planning to become a nurse anesthetist.
Craig lost 3,500 cubic centimeters of blood in the accident. He was given two body transfusions and 16 extra pints of blood in the hospital. Now Craig makes it his mission to speak to anyone who will listen about the importance of donating blood.
“The greatest thing about giving blood is that someone will give a pint of blood and (might) never know who they’ll help at all,” he says.
The one thing Craig says he does know is that his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers will not allow him to think of himself either as a hero or a victim.
“All my friends … get on me, and I’m glad they do because that’s kind of what keeps me sane,” Craig says. “I’m glad they treat me like everybody else.”

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color jpeg photo of Craig Hutto, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.