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Addison Bethea was collecting clams on Florida’s Gulf Coast before the July 4 weekend when she felt something grab her leg. The 17-year-old girl was swimming in water that was only five feet deep on Thursday, but she immediately knew whatever was wrapped around her thigh put her in danger.
“I thought, that’s not right,” Bethea told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “And then I look and it’s a big old shark.”
Bethea was bitten twice by a large shark near Keaton Beach, Florida, and was only pulled free after her brother grabbed her and kicked the animal away, the teenager’s father said in a Facebook post. The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a statement that “a juvenile was bitten by an undetermined species of shark described as approximately nine feet long.”
She was in serious but stable condition as of Saturday morning. Although the 17-year-old from Perry, Fla., survived the attack, she suffered “devastating soft tissue damage to her right leg,” according to a statement from Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, where she is being treated. After undergoing emergency surgery to restore blood flow to her leg, the hospital said in a statement that Bethea was scheduled for another procedure Saturday afternoon “to further investigate the extent of the damage to her leg and determine what treatment options are available to save her leg.
“Right now we are taking each issue day by day, but the long term outlook for her leg is not good,” her father, Shane Bethea, wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
Hospital officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Saturday.
Shark attacks increased in 2021 after three consecutive years of decline, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File. The increase from 2020 is largely due to restrictions related to the coronavirus, museum data show.
Florida is home to the most cases of unprovoked shark attacks not only in the United States, but in the world. Researchers say 28 of the 73 unprovoked attacks last year came from the Sunshine State, accounting for 60 percent of U.S. cases and 38 percent of incidents worldwide.
The attack in Florida happened the same day a man swimming at Jones Beach on Long Island may have been bitten by a shark, authorities said. Medics treating a laceration to the 57-year-old man’s right leg identified it as a possible shark bite, prompting the Nassau County Police Department to increase patrols of beaches over the holiday weekend, WNBC reported.
When Bethea first realized a shark was biting her leg, she tried to “poke it in the eye and punch it,” writes Shane Bethea. Michelle Murphy, the teenager’s mother, went so far as to tell WOFL in Orlando that her daughter was “fighting the shark.”
“I remember from watching Animal Planet I was like… punch [it] in the nose or something,” Addison Bethea told “Good Morning America” from her hospital bed. “And I couldn’t get to his nose the way he bit me.”
As the shark attack unfolded, her brother, Rhett Willingham, a firefighter and emergency medical technician, rushed into the water to help her. Willingham was stunned to see the blood around his sister – and the shark that wouldn’t let go.
“So then I swam over there and grabbed her and then I pushed them all, trying to separate them,” Willingham told ABC. “And he just kept coming. So I grabbed her, swam back and kicked him, then called for help.
Bethea’s father said Willingham put the teenager’s leg in a tourniquet to stop the bleeding “and kept her awake, ultimately saving her life.” The family notes that a Good Samaritan in a boat brought the sister and brother back to the beach, where she was soon airlifted to Tallahassee, about 80 miles away.
“The nerve in the back of the thigh was severely damaged,” her father wrote on Facebook. “There’s an unbelievable amount of damage to her thigh area.”
Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett described the incident to WCTV as a “tragedy.” Victor Blanco, an agent with the University of Florida Taylor County Extension Service, noted that it is possible, based on reports from witnesses and authorities, that a bull shark may have attacked Bethea.
“They prefer shallow coastal waters, which means they can often come into contact with humans,” Blanco wrote. “Bull sharks are often considered the most dangerous sharks to humans because of their aggressive tendencies and ability to migrate up rivers.”
Although Blanco stressed that shark attacks are extremely rare, the sheriff’s office has posted safety reminders to residents on social media in the days since the incident.
“Swimmers and combers are advised to be alert, vigilant and be shark safe,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “Some rules to follow are: never swim alone, do not enter the water near fishermen, avoid areas such as sandbars (where sharks like to congregate), do not swim near large schools of fish and avoid chaotic movements, while in the water. “
The hospital stressed that while Bethea “has a long road to recovery,” she is in good spirits and appreciates all the support she has received since the attack. Shane Bethea praised his daughter’s resilience through it all, saying she “made jokes about beating the shark” and asked for a Wendy’s Frosty when she was extubated. But he acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, which could leave his daughter without a leg.
“We just ask that you continue to keep her in your prayers. She is a soldier but has an extremely long mental and physical road ahead of her,” he wrote on Saturday. “Keep us in your prayers too because this is our baby girl.”
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