It happened so fast, she didn’t have time to react, on a fun day out that went downhill.
A 73-year-old woman, Katherine Perkins, from Arnold, Maryland, was on a fishing trip with friends, when she was stabbed by the bill of a 100-pound sailfish that jumped out of the water and got her in the abdomen, in a near fatal encounter.
Sailfish have an elongated, spear-like upper jaw.
She was on the boat with her companions who were trying to bring the fish in on a line, near Stuart, Florida, according to authorities.
Her boat companions gave her first aide and she was taken into Stuart for treatment.
Apparently, she was attacked out of the blue and didn’t see what was coming until too late.
Sailfish are known to be fast moving, some moving almost 70 miles per hour, and have long pointed bills, according to The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Stuart, Florida is known as the “Sailfish Capital of the World” since 1938.
Sailfish are usually released back into the water because fisherman are only allowed to take one per day, with a minimal length of about 63 inches, according to Florida law.
