Girl, 9, has hand bitten off by 8ft shark while snorkeling off Florida coast
A nine-year-old had her hand bitten off by an 8ft shark on Wednesday when she was attacked while snorkeling off the coast of Florida with her family.
Leah Lendel, nine, was swimming in the waters Boca Grande with her mother Nadia and her siblings at around noon. Bystanders said a bull shark bit off her right hand and part of her wrist as she emerged from the water covered in blood.
With the help of nearby construction workers, the family called 911 and created a tourniquet out of a beach towel to stop the bleeding.
Leah was airlifted along with her father was airlifted to Tampa, 100 miles away and admitted for emergency surgery in which the limb was reattached.
One of the construction workers, Alfonso Tello, told local outlets: 'When we see that little girl come out from the water with no hand, it was like something out – it gets me. Everybody was in shock.'
Tello and his coworkers were on lunch break when he heard the girl's screams. The men rushed to the water to help, unaware they had just witnessed a shark attack.
Tello's coworker Raynel Lugo told WINK: 'The hand, it was just hanging by this piece. The whole thing was completely hanging out. You can see bones all completely red.'
Her mother, Nadia Lendel, an Instagram blogger with almost 100,000 followers, posted an update to her supporters just after the attack.
'Please keep our family in your prayers. Leah got bit by a shark today while snorkeling. She has to get airlifted to the hospital and is undergoing surgery.'
In her update to a CBS affiliate, Nadia said: 'They had to get arteries from her leg to the hand. Got the blood flow back to her hand. Install pins in bones. Still has open tissues.
'They will be monitoring her here for a week. But thank God she can move her fingers.'
Leah Lendel's uncle Max Derinsky also offered NBC News further details on the girl's condition: 'The doctors were able to do some miracles and put her hand back together.
'She will be in the hospital for a while and then a lot of physical therapy to hopefully get her hand functioning again.'
In Boca Grande, May through July is known as tarpon season, when the large fish are most populous around the island. Their most active period also coincides with shark mating season.
The Boca Grande Fire Department Chief CW Blosser told local news outlets that in his time as chief, he'd only seen two shark attacks. Both of them were during tarpon season.
Bull sharks are attracted to the schools of tarpon and pose a risk to swimmers and those fishing in the area.
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