A shark nearly bit off a 10-year-old girl's hand, but she is now doing well after a re-attachment surgery, according to the Guardian.
What happened?
Leah Lendel was snorkeling with her family in June of this year in Boca Grande, Florida, when a nine-foot bull shark bit her.
Lendel was left with her right hand barely attached after the attack, but thanks to some help from nearby construction workers who raced to help and placed a tourniquet on her arm, she made it to the hospital. Once there, she endured a six-hour "miracle" surgery to reattach the hand that involved repairing tendons and taking arteries from her legs to use in her hand.
Lendel's mother, Nadia, explained just how bad the injury was in an interview with Inside Edition, as reported by the Guardian: "It was just a stump, and her wrist was just hanging off, and there was just blood squirting everywhere."
Since the incident, Lendel has worked with occupational therapists to regain use of her hand, and her progress has been going well enough that she recently knitted a hat and skirt for one of her dolls.
Why is this shark encounter concerning?
While shark attacks are rare — according to the International Shark Attack File, in 2024, there were a total of 71 provoked and unprovoked shark bites globally — bull sharks are some of the most dangerous, as they prefer hanging out in shallow coastal waters where they're more likely to encounter people.
Shark bites often lead to serious injury, like Lendel's, or even death, making these encounters incredibly dangerous. These encounters aren't only dangerous for people, though, as authorities often track down a wild animal that has attacked to euthanize it, whether a person provoked the attack or not.
As bull sharks are considered near threatened due to being at higher risk of habitat degradation and pollution because of their preference for coastal waters, euthanization contributes to their population decline.
Shark attacks often aren't the fault of the animal, either. Because pollution and rising sea temperatures contribute to the loss of natural habitats and food sources for these animals, they must migrate to new areas, which often contain more people, leading to increased human-wildlife encounters.
The tourism industry also doesn't help, as areas with booming tourism, like Florida, see more people on beaches and in the ocean.
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Definitely 👍 How can I protect myself from shark encounters?
The best way to protect yourself from encountering a shark is to remain highly vigilant at all times while engaging in ocean-based recreation.
Working to protect sharks' natural habitats will also help these animals stay where they belong, so they aren't forced to migrate into heavily populated areas.
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