A 13-year-old boy was swimming on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina when he was reportedly bitten by a blacktip or sharpness shark on his foot.

Linton Suttle said that he was pushing his 11-year-old sister on a boogie board when he dived into the water. Linton said he then felt a sharp pain on his foot, prompting him to pull away, The Island Packet reported.

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"I thought maybe it was a seashell but as I turned around to look I saw a shadow swim away and I knew I had just got bit by a shark," Linton said. "My first thought was that I wanted to get my sister out of the water."

The boy told the Island Packet that he did not expect anyone to believe he had gotten bitten by a shark and he was right. His parents initially doubted his injuries were caused by a shark.

Kristy Suttle, Linton's mother and a nurse, said she first thought her son's injuries were cause by a tentacle.

Linton's father used Google search to find pictures of recent shark bite cases on Hilton Head Island, which matched Linton's bites. According to the Florida Programme for Shark Research, he is the fourth shark bite victim on Hilton Head Island confirmed this summer.

"I already knew it was a shark bite," Linton said. "I was glad he also said it was because now my parents know."

Linton has been forced to walk around on crutches and he cannot swim in the ocean. "Half of an inch to the left and he might have lost a toe," she said. "I am grateful it didn't do more damage."

Three other children have been bitten by sharks this summer including a ten-year-old boy.

On 18 June, 14-year-old Ohio girl Reagan Readnour was bitten on the leg in two places by a shark in shallow waters off Burkes Beach. Three days later, 16-year-old Indiana girl Olivia Wallhauser was bitten by a shark while swimming off South Forest Beach. None of the victims suffered life threatening injuries.