North Carolina paramedic reels in 500-pound hammerhead shark at North Topsail Beach

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. (WSOC) -- A paramedic in western North Carolina reeled in a 500-pound shark while fishing on North Topsail Beach.

"I knew it was something big," Blake Cochran said in an interview with ABC affiliate WSOC. "The biggest shark I've caught up to this point was like 4 feet, and this one, when I pulled it in, it was insane."

The hammerhead shark measured 13-foot-6-inches long and was estimated to weigh 500-700 pounds.

Cochran and his friends usually go fishing along the North Carolina coast once a month. But they've never caught anything near the size of that massive shark.

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"He was pretty heavy," Cochran said. "It takes two to three people."

Cochran said his haul caused quite the reaction from people on the beach.

"When we caught that one, a lot of folks came up and said, 'Oh my God, I'm not going to let my kids swim here,'" he said. "There's sharks in the water. It's the ocean, it's their home. They're not going to bother you unless you bother them."