Boy's arm reattached after shark attack

A lifeguard stands over the Bull shark that attacked an 8-year-old boy on Friday.

PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- Doctors successfully reattached the right arm of an 8-year-old boy Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said, a day after a shark attack was halted by the boy's uncle, who wrestled the shark to the shore to retrieve the arm.

The boy was listed in critical condition Saturday.

He was attacked by a Bull shark Friday around 8 p.m. while swimming off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, according to Ranger John Bandursky of the Gulf Island National Seashore Park.

After the boy's uncle wrestled the shark onshore, Bandursky said, a park ranger then shot the shark three times in order to loosen its jaws and retrieve the boy's right arm, which was still inside the shark's mouth. The shark was killed and emergency medical technicians, who had arrived by that time, were able to recover the boy's arm.

Doctors at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola worked to reattach his arm during surgery that lasted about 12 hours, hospital spokeswoman Pam Bilbrey said.