A 17-year-old girl who suffered a shark attack at a Florida beach is alive today—thanks to her fighting instincts and her brother’s quick actions. Addison Bethea was scalloping in water roughly 5 feet deep near Grassy Island, just off Keaton Beach, when a shark bit her. “And the next thing I know something latches onto my leg and I was like that’s not right. And then I look and it’s a big old shark,” the teen told Good Morning America.
Addison remembered from watching Animal Planet that you’re supposed to punch sharks in the nose in case of an attack, but she couldn’t get around to the beast’s nose the way it bit her. Still, she tried to fight it and pull it off her leg with her bare hands. Once he saw the blood, Addison’s brother, Rhett Willingham, jumped in the water to help her.“She came back up and I saw, like, the blood and everything, and I saw the shark,” he said.
“So then I swam over there, grabbed her, and then pushed them all, kind of trying to separate them. And he just kept coming. So I grabbed her, swam backwards and kicked him and then yelled for help.” Rhett, 22, a Taylor County emergency medical technician and firefighter, beat and kicked the shark nonstop to pry his sister loose. Once she was free, he grabbed her and placed her on his boat.
A nearby boater who saw them in distress offered to help, and Rhett transferred Addison to the stranger’s boat. He then made a 4-foot tourniquet out of a boat rope and put it around her right upper leg to control the bleeding. Rhett called for an ambulance before using the boat to get back on land.Addison suffered severe injuries and had to be airlifted some 80 miles away to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, which initially listed her in critical condition.
She underwent emergency surgery and was stabilized. Unfortunately, she suffered extensive damage to her right leg. “The shark attacked her right leg, front quad muscle was completely annihilated,” Addison’s dad, Shane, said. “It was devastating, a nasty, nasty wound. The vascular surgeon took the vein from the left leg and turned it into an artery for the right leg to get blood flow.”
Doctors are attempting to avoid removing her leg from her hip. Surgeons will also try to save enough tissue from her lower leg so that prosthetics can be fitted. “The fact that she is alive is the most important thing!” Shane stated. Despite the terror she has just experienced, Addison remains optimistic. Her friends also came to see her in the intensive care unit.
“She awoke and began communicating with us by typing on her phone.” “She was upbeat and cracking jokes about beating up the shark,” Shane wrote on Facebook. Addison’s first request was a Frosty from Wendy’s. The adolescent has already scheduled a second surgery to determine the extent of the damage and what treatment options are available to save her leg.
The sheriff’s office says it’s unclear what kind of shark attacked Addison, but it was described as being about 9 feet long. They also issued safety warnings to all swimmers and scallopers in the area. “Swimmers and scallopers are advised to be alert, vigilant, and practice shark safety,” according to the sheriff’s office.
“Some rules to follow include: never swimming alone, never entering the water near fishermen, avoiding areas such as sandbars (where sharks like to congregate), never swimming near large schools of fish, and avoiding erratic movements while in the water.” To contribute to Addison’s medical bills, send a check to Buckeye Community Federal Credit Union, 1825 S. Jefferson St., Perry, FL 32348, with the memo “Addison Bethea.”
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