BOCA GRANDE, FLA. (WSVN) A 10-year-old girl describes the harrowing moments that changed her life while she was snorkeling with her family. Leah Lendel was snorkeling in the shallow waters off the coast of Boca Grande with her family in June when a shark took a bite out of her wrist. “I think I saw its tail and then it just let go, and then I swim out, and then I see my hand bleeding and I knew it was a shark,” she said. “I was thinking, ‘What am I gonna do now? Am I ever gonna see my hand again?’” Despite the scary experience, she managed to walk out of the water on her own, where her mom, Nadia Lendel, found her. “She was just quiet. She wasn’t screaming, she wasn’t making any kind of commotion. She was just standing there and I looked over to and her hand looked like it was hanging by a piece of skin and it looked like it was starting to go down to the ground,” said Nadia. The frightening sight sent one clear message through Nadia’s mind. “I just don’t want her to bleed to death, that was probably my biggest worry,” she said. Nearby construction workers jumped into action, trying to stem the bleeding with a towel and calling 911. “The shark bit the arm for the little kid, pretty bad,” a worker told police in a 911 call. “Is the arm or the hand obviously bent out of shape?” the dispatcher asked. “Yes, we put it together inside a towel,” said the worker. Leah was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, where doctors faced the challenge of reattaching her arm. “She had a lot of missing tissue,” said Nadia. “But no missing bones,” said Leah. Leah was in surgery for six hours. The very next day, she made miraculous progress already. “She moved two fingers,” said Nadia. Leah now works with an occupational therapist, who is helping her slowly regain feeling in her hand and finers. “I thought I was never going to have a hand again but I still do,” said Leah. She also said despite her circumstances, she’s not afraid and looks forward to get back into the water. She said she dreams of being a marine biologist and studying sharks when she gets older. Copyright.
https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/10-year-old-attacked-by-shark-while-snorkeling-off-florida-coast-shares-harrowing-experience/
10-year-old attacked by shark while snorkeling off Florida coast shares harrowing experience
