Mom of Teen Who Lost Hand and Leg in Shark Attack Speaks Out: ‘She Was Lifeless'
Lulu Gribbin was one of three people attacked by a shark off the Florida panhandle on Friday, June 7
Caringbridge.org
Lulu Gribbin.Lulu Gribbin, 15, was identified as one of the three people attacked by a shark off the Florida panhandle on June 7
“I saw her wounds on her leg and started to scream,” her mother said in an update
The teen lost her left hand and part of her right leg in the horrific incident
The mother of a girl who lost a hand and a portion of her leg following a shark attack in Florida is speaking out following the scary ordeal.
Lulu Gribbin was one of three people attacked in two separate shark attacks off Florida's Walton County on Friday, June 7.
The 15-year-old girl was swimming about four miles away near the first sandbar at Seacrest Beach when the attack occurred, South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford previously said at a press conference.
The shark bit off Lulu’s left hand, and doctors amputated her right leg “halfway up from her knee to her hip,” mother Ann Blair Gribbin said in a statement shared Sunday, June 9, on CaringBridge.
Related: 11-Year-Old Girl Injured During Apparent Shark Attack While Swimming Near Shore in Hawaii
Lulu, who was on her first mother-daughter beach trip when the attack occurred, lost two-thirds of the blood in her body.
“Of course, no one wants that for your child but she is alive,” Ann wrote.
Lulu was transported to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, and was already in surgery by the time her family arrived at the hospital, according to her mother.
She later recounted her horrific experience, which began with her and at least five others searching for sand dollars at the sand bar.
Lulu said the shark “bit her hand and then her leg” before biting one of her friend’s feet. She then remembered a man “grabbed her other arm and pulled her out” of the water while “another younger boy helped him carry her to shore.”
Two doctors and two other young women, “one of whom was a nurse,” helped apply tourniquets to Lulu’s wounds, Ann wrote.
The mom said she was returning from lunch with friends when she saw a commotion on the beach. After they approached the scene, Lulu’s twin Ellie rushed up to Ann and told her that her sister was injured.
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“I saw her wounds on her leg and started to scream,” the twins’ mother recalled. “She was lifeless her eyes closed mouth white and pale. The wound on her leg or all that was left of her leg was something out of a movie.”
Lulu was intubated when she first arrived at the hospital, but she is now breathing on her own. Ann said her daughter’s first words after having the tube removed from her throat were “I made it.”
Despite the “terrible accident,” Ann believes “God was there and had the people there” to help save her daughter’s life. “She is truly a miracle,” the mother said of her daughter. “We have a long road ahead and our journey is just beginning!”
Related: Mom, 26, Dies in Apparent Shark Attack While Swimming With Daughter, 5, Off Mexico Coast
Ann also thanked everyone who helped save her daughter, including the person who pulled her from the water, the individuals who applied tourniquets, the EMTs at the scene and the staff at Sacred Heart.
“Lulu is strong, beautiful, brave and so many more things I can't count,” Ann wrote. “God has a plan for her, and we will be there to support her every way we can.”
Authorities said a shark attacked 45-year-old Elizabeth Foley, of Virginia, earlier that day.
Crawford said she was airlifted to HCA Fort Walton Beach Medical Center Part in critical condition, and had part of her left arm amputated.
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