NEAR FORT MYERS, Fla. (WSVN) — A young girl is recovering in the hospital after she was attacked by a shark in Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Nine-year-old Leah Lendel was swimming with her family in the waters off Boca Grande, near Fort Myers, on Wednesday when the attack occurred.
The child’s parents recalled her screaming and then saw her right hand had been severed and covered in blood up to her wrist.
Alfonso Tello was on his lunch break with his coworkers when he heard cries for help.
“I was, like, thinking they were playing around but when they scream, like, ‘Help, help,’ that’s when we got out there when we see the little girl crying so when we see the little girl came in out from the water with no hand, it was like something that gets me, like, everybody was in shock,” said Tello.
Her mother, holding onto her younger siblings nearby, was unable to help right away. Her father, who was snorkeling nearby, swam back to shore as quickly as he could to find help.
Raynel Lugo was one of the Good Samaritans who called 911 and used a towel to make a tourniquet to help stop the blood loss.
“A lot of blood coming out of the hands. So technically, the hand was torn apart, just hanging by a little piece of skin only,” said Raynel Lugo.
Witnesses said the little girl managed to make it back to shore on her own, likely in shock.
“The other guy was with me, he had literally jumped on top of the shark, tried to get it off, because the shark was pursuing a baby, so it was a fight between me and him on the shark,” said Lugo.
Leah was airlifted to a Tampa hospital and underwent surgery to try and save her hand.
Boca Grande’s fire chief said she is expected to survive.
Pamela Krout, a beachgoer, said people going in the water need to remain alert following this attack.
“So, you’ll have to be careful, keep an eye out. How sad. That is very sad and I feel so bad for the family and that poor child,” said Krout.
The Boca Grande fire chief said the last time they had a shark attack there was when a fisherman fell overboard in 2019.
As of late Wednesday night, it remains unclear whether or not doctors were able to save her hand.
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