Florida Teen Punched Shark That Attacked Her Leg, Father Says

The Florida teen whose leg was severely injured in a shark assault Thursday punched and poked the eyes of the carnivore trying to eat her, her father mentioned in a Fb publish.

Addison Bethea is now awake and alert within the ICU of a Tallahassee hospital after virtually dropping her life to the 9-foot beast whereas scalloping off the coast of Keaton Seashore in Taylor County. As a way to scare the predator, Addison and her brother bravely fought off the shark, which bit her proper leg twice earlier than swimming away, her dad wrote in a Fb publish Friday.

“By the grace of God, she was together with her brother Rhett Willingham, who’s a primary responder/firefighter, who acted shortly to actually battle off the shark and pull her away and into a close-by boat of an unknown individual (thanks to whoever you’re),” her dad, Shane Bethea, mentioned.

After getting his sister to the protection of a ship, Willingham put a tourniquet on her leg, stopping huge blood loss and saving her life, Shane continued. Addison was airlifted to the hospital as soon as the boat reached the shore and instantly went into emergency surgical procedure, he mentioned.

“[Doctors] needed to take away a vein from her left leg to create an artery in the suitable to try to get blood circulation reestablished to her foot and decrease leg. The nerve on the again of the thigh was broken severely. There may be an unreal quantity of injury to her thigh space,” Shane mentioned.

As of Friday, medical doctors nonetheless weren’t positive how extreme the harm to her leg is and are monitoring her situation, Shane mentioned. Addison will bear a second surgical procedure Saturday, the hospital mentioned in its personal Fb publish Friday.

Shane additionally reported that Addison, who was sedated till Friday, is now in a position to talk by typing on her telephone, joking about beating up the shark and asking for a frosty from Wendy’s.

“She’s been via greater than I may ever think about however she is being a trooper,” Shane mentioned. “Please pray for her and the issue of her days forward. She isn’t out of the woods by any stretch, however she is alive and that’s what’s most vital to us.”

In a separate Fb publish, Michelle Murphy, Addison’s mother, wrote that her daughter was surrounded by her older brothers and different relations within the hospital.

“Proper now we simply ask for continued prayers for our candy lady,” Murphy mentioned. “She’s a tricky cookie and she or he has an extended highway forward of her however she’s alive and that’s all this mama cares about.”

One other “attainable” shark chew Thursday prompted Florida officers in Nassau County, which sits about 150 miles from Taylor County the place Addison was attacked, to ramp up seashore patrols over the Fourth of July vacation weekend, the New York Put up experiences.

The patrols encompass lifeguards jet snowboarding alongside the coast of seashore cities, expecting sharks.