The daddy of a Florida teen who misplaced a part of her leg in a harrowing shark assault stated she bravely attempted to fight off the monster — even touchdown a punch.
“She’s been via greater than I might ever think about however she is being a trooper,” Shane Bethea stated of his daughter, Addison Bethea, on Facebook.
“Please pray for her and the problem of her days forward.”
The shaken dad stated Addison was scalloping at Keaton Seaside in Taylor County in shallow waters when the 9-foot predator instantly attacked.
“The shark bit her as soon as after which attacked her once more on her proper thigh,” he wrote. “She tried poking it within the eyes and punching it however it will not flip unfastened.”
Her brother Rhett then gallantly stepped in to assist, battering the shark till it lastly loosened its grip, Bethea wrote.
The courageous brother then dragged his struggling sibling into the boat of a passing stranger.
“Rhett put a tourniquet on her leg to reduce blood loss to the large harm and stored her awake, in the end saving her life,” he wrote.
Bethea was then airlifted to a Tallahassee hospital, the place she now faces a protracted street to restoration.
“The nerve on the again of her thigh was broken severely,” Bethea stated. “There’s an unreal quantity of harm to her thigh space. The medical doctors are not sure at this level as to the situation of the leg and need to take it daily to see what must be accomplished.”
Addison was sedated till Friday morning when she regained consciousness and communicated together with her dad and mom via her cellphone — and rapidly requested a Wendy’s frosty, Bethea stated.
“She was in good spirits and cracking jokes about beating up the shark,” he stated. “She isn’t out of the woods by any stretch, however she is alive and that’s what’s most vital to us. We recognize the entire assist and Addison wished me to inform you thanks as effectively.”
Addison’s mom, Michelle Murphy, additionally posted about her daughter’s terrifying ordeal on Fb.
“She’s a tricky cookie and she or he has a protracted street forward of her however she’s alive and that’s all this mama cares about,” she stated, including that Addison is surrounded by family and friends at her bedside.
