10-year-old boy describes how he survived shark attack

A 10-year-old Colorado boy is looking forward to being able to walk again after being bitten by a shark while vacationing with his family in Mexico.

Dillon Armijo and his parents said they were vacationing in Cancun earlier this month when the shark attack occurred.

On the last day of the family's trip, Dillon and his older brother were playing in knee-deep water at a local beach when a shark latched onto his leg.

"It just felt like a bump, like a really sharp bump ... just like a big wave that hit me," Dillon told "Good Morning America." "And I just didn't see anything. I just I saw the blood."

Dillon's mom Abby Armijo told "GMA" that she heard her son scream before she saw what happened.

"I heard him scream first," she said. "That moment is the most overwhelming thing I've ever experienced in my life."

After the attack, Dillon's brother, as well as a bystander and a nearby lifeguard, jumped into action.

"My brother dragged me onto the sand," Dillon said, adding that his mom and other bystanders then also jumped in to help. "They put me on a chair and the tourniquet on my leg."

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Dillon was then rushed to a nearby hospital, according to Armijo.

"It was terrifying. I didn't know how bad it was," she said. "Just as a mom, I was helpless, and that's a horrible, horrible feeling."

After four days in the local hospital in Mexico, Dillon was airlifted to a hospital in Colorado.

Dillon's parents said they didn't "fully understand the extent" of their son's injuries until he was treated in Colorado. In total, Dillon underwent four surgeries.

"All of the tendons on both sides of his knee were gone. A lot of nerve damage in his feet," Dillon's dad Zach Armijo told "GMA" of his son's injuries. "So he's no longer able to lift his foot. He'll have a drop foot, but he will be able to run and jump and play soccer like normal in time, so that's the best we can hope for."

Dillon is now at home recovering from his injuries.

He added that he's looking forward to being able to return to his normal activities, saying, "I feel really happy seeing and knowing that I'm going to be able to play again."

The 10-year-old said he also thinks he will go back in the ocean, "eventually."

"He is brave and he's strong," said Abby Armijo. "And if he wants to go back in the ocean, then I think that's fantastic."

Neil Hammerschlag, a marine ecologist and founder of Atlantic Shark Expeditions, told "GMA" that beachgoers should know there is a risk of sharks in open ocean water.

"If you're going to get in the water, you have to assume the risk," he told "GMA." "But I think people should take kind of comfort in knowing that a shark bite is extremely rare."

Last year, the United States recorded 41 cases of unprovoked shark bites, the most in the world, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.