A teenage girl has sustained serious injuries after being attacked by a shark at a beach in Florida.
Per CBS News, Addison Bethea, 17, was looking for scallops close to the water around five feet deep off Keaton Beach when a shark attacked her, according to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office.
Coming to the girl’s aid, Bethea's brother bravely fought off the shark, by poking it in the eyes in defense. Tragically, the shark ended up biting her right leg twice before swimming away.
Bethea was airlifted to a hospital in Tallahassee with serious injuries and is now awake in the ICU of a Tallahassee hospital after almost losing her life to the 9-foot beast. The hospital shared a post on Facebook detailing the attack.
The hospital posted a picture of the teen and her brother, with the caption: "Addison has devastating damage to the soft tissue in her right leg. The TMH trauma team stabilized her, and the trauma surgeon performed emergency surgery with a goal of restoring blood flow to her leg."
"She will undergo a second surgery Saturday, July 2 to further investigate the extent of the damage to her leg and determine what treatment options are available with the goal of saving her leg," they continued.
The hospital wrote that Bethea has a "long journey to recovery" and that family would like to thank their community in Taylor County for reaching out to offer prayers and support during this difficult time.
Bethea's parents also posted about the painful news on their Facebook, with her mom writing: "Right now we just ask for continued prayers for our sweet girl. She’s a tough cookie and she has a long road ahead of her but she’s alive and that’s all this mama cares about. So please keep praying because it’s working!"
Sheriff Padgett announced in a statement that the news is a "tragedy" stating that, "Boaters and swimmers are cautioned to be alert, vigilant, and practice shark safety,"
"Some rules to follow are: never swim alone, do not enter the water near fishermen, avoid areas such as sandbars (where sharks like to congregate), do not swim near large schools of fish, and avoid erratic movements while in the water," the sheriff said.
Florida has reported on average 25 shark attack incidents each year over the last half-decade. The International Shark Attack File shows that the number of attacks seems to be decreasing.
Our thoughts continue to go out to Bethea and her family.
