BOCA GRANDE, Fla. (WSVN) — Deputy-worn bodycam video shows the tense moments law enforcement reponded to a shark bite off Florida’s Gulf Coast, as well as an anguished mother describing the gruesome attack that severed her daughter’s hand.
A 911 call captured the terrifying moments in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday’s attack on Boca Grand Beach, near Fort Myers, on Wednesday.
” Is she breathing?” asked the dispatcher.
“Yes, she’s breathing,” said a caller.
“OK, all right,” said the dispatcher.
The bodycam footage shows a responding Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputy asking Leah Lendel’s mother, Nadia Lendel, to describe what happened.
“My husband was further out, and [Leah], she was snorkeling from, like, four feet away from me,” said Nadia.
“OK, in water about four feet deep?” said the deputy.
“Yeah, like, that’s probably four feet deep, and so she dips in — like, she always snorkels, she hasn’t been around my feet — and then she flies out and, like, I look over because she – I don’t know if I heard her yell or what, but she went like that, and I could see her hand hanging,” said Nadia.
“OK,” said the deputy.
“Like a piece, and just blood everywhere,” said Nadia.
“OK,” said the deputy.
“So just yelling, and then the man working over there ran over, ’cause I was screaming so hard, like, ‘help.’ They needed someone to call ASAP.” said Nadia,
Witness Alfonso Tello said he saw the marine predator.
“So, it was a big shark, like eight feet. I would say like eight feet,” he said.
Construction workers were working on a home along Shore Lane, just steps away. They jumped in to help, using a towel as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
One of those workers, Raynel Lugo, said he stayed by the victim’s side to keep her calm.
“I was talking to her. I was telling that, ‘What’s your name? How are you? I got a daughter just like you. What a beautiful day,’ you know,” he said. “In the meantime, I was trying to check her hand, and I saw in real life what’s going on.”
“We see the little girl crying, so when we see that little girl coming out from the water with no hand, it was like something that, like, gets me,” said Tello.
Leah’s family is receiving help with medical expenses. She’s set to undergo physical therapy to improve the function of her hand.
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