A teenager was attacked by a shark near Surfside Beach Monday afternoon.

The 15-year-old boy was with a church group and was swimming in waist-deep water.

He felt something bite into his left calf and reached into the water to pull the shark off, Surfside police said. The shark then bit his left hand.

A witness said the victim appeared to be conscious and talking when he was loaded onto a stretcher.

�He didn�t look like he was in any pain when they were taking him on the stretcher to Life Flight,� said Billy Cornelius. �He was looking around��

A Life Flight helicopter rushed the teen to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. His condition isn�t known.

We�re told the wound on his hand is the more serious of the two. A Surfside paramedic said they called Life Flight as a precaution because they wanted to make sure doctors could save the hand. Surfside is a small, beachfront town located about 40 miles southwest of Galveston.

Our sister station KHOU is following this developing story.

They said he is doing better