Coast Guard Rescues Gloucester Fisherman Impaled By Dogfish

GLOUCESTER (CBS) - A Gloucester fisherman thought he had hooked the catch of the day, but instead the fish attacked and did some real damage and required an emergency Coast Guard rescue.

Roger Brisson has 40 years of fishing memories.

"This one here, he started to twist around, twist around. And then he stabbed me right in the forearm," Brisson said.

But this one might be the ultimate fisherman's tale and it really happened. Brisson caught a dogfish shark, which is not very good for eating.

So he was trying to get the hook out, when it impaled him.

"He twisted himself around the line, and then his spine in the back, the dorsal fin, he twisted around he just stabbed me right there really quick and just went in," Brisson said.

"I pulled it out. I could see it coming out. It was ugly," he said laughing.

And then that arm started to swell, badly.

"I don't scare easy, but when you see the blood gushing out like that, and starting to swell up like that, I got nervous."

Brisson had to call the Coast Guard, who rushed him to the hospital. They put him on antibiotics and wrapped up the wound.

And for Brisson, this was a role reversal. He saved two men back in 2009 after their boat capsized.

This time around he was the one being rescued, and he says the Coast Guard couldn't have done it better.

"I came back, they had my keys, my phone everything was put away," Brisson said. "These guys were great."