Latest news with #AlfonsoTello
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Shark attacks 9-year-old girl snorkelling off Florida beach
Raynell Lugo and his fellow construction workers were on a break when they heard the screams. (WFOR via CNN Newsource) BOCA GRANDE, Fla. — A 9-year-old girl was attacked by a shark while snorkelling off a Florida beach on Wednesday. It happened off Boca Grande on the state's southwest coast. The girl's family said she was underwater when she suddenly surfaced screaming, her right hand covered in blood. They said it was barely attached to her arm. Workers rush in to help Alfonso Tello and his fellow construction workers were on a break when they heard the screams. He said they jumped in the water to help the girl, not knowing that she had been attacked by a shark. He said the image of the girl's arm is something he can't get out of his head. 'I was thinking that they were playing around, but when we heard the scream like 'help, help' we saw the little girl crying. So when we see that little girl come out from the water with no hand, it was like something out like gets me, gets me, like everybody was in shock,' he said. 'We heard somebody screaming, help, help, help. And then we jump on and see what's going on. And I saw it was like five kids on the water, mom and dad on the water. I saw a shark right on top of the lady, little kid. So we jump on the water, we pull him off, and the shark was right behind us, and it was pretty bad,' Raynel Lugo said. Heartbreaking for those helped Lugo said after they got the girl to shore, they tried to help her until paramedics arrived. 'The hand, it was just hanging by this piece of the hands. The whole thing was completely hanging out. You can see bones all completely red. So we stopped bleeding. We tried to stop it. She put a towel on it and hold it into that place. So I sit down with her, and I was talking to the EMS arrived,' he said. 'Nine years old. I have a daughter, 9-years-old, same age. She was brave,' he added. Witnesses said it was a bull shark that attacked the girl, but officials have not confirmed that. 'It was a big shark, like eight feet. I would say like eight feet,' Tello said. Some swimmers at the beach said this is why they stay close to shore. 'You have to be careful, keep an eye out. How sad, that is very sad and I feel so bad for her,' Pamela Krout said. Shark attacks in Florida Last year, there were 28 confirmed shark bites in U.S. waters, accounting for 60 per cent of the worldwide attacks. Half of U.S. attacks took place in Florida in 2024, which is also common for the state often known to experience the highest concentrations of shark bites of anywhere in the world. Article by CBS Miami Team. Emily Mae Czachor contributed to this report.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
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.
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
Florida shark attack leaves 9-year-old girl seriously injured while snorkeling off Boca Grande, officials say
A 9-year-old girl was airlifted to a trauma center after being attacked by a shark while snorkeling off a Florida beach on Wednesday, authorities confirmed. It happened around noon off Boca Grande, near Fort Myers, on the state's southwest coast, according to the Boca Grande Fire Department. Local media in Southwest Florida identified the shark attack victim as Leah Lendel. The girl's family said in a statement that she was underwater when she suddenly surfaced screaming, her right hand covered in blood. They said it was barely attached to her arm. Construction workers rush in to help girl attacked by shark Alfonso Tello and his fellow construction workers were on a break when they heard the screams. He said they jumped in the water to help the girl, not knowing that she had been attacked by a shark. He said the image of the girl's arm is something he can't get out of his head. "I was thinking that they were playing around, but when we heard the scream like 'help, help' we saw the little girl crying. So when we see that little girl come out from the water with no hand, it was like something out like gets me, gets me, like everybody was in shock," he told WBBH. "We heard somebody screaming 'help, help, help.' And then we jump on and see what's going on. And I saw it was like five kids on the water, mom and dad on the water. I saw a shark right on top of the lady, little kid. So we jump on the water, we pull him off, and the shark was right behind us, and it was pretty bad," Raynel Lugo, who was nearby when the attack happened, told CBS affiliate WINK. "She was walking outside with the hands out bleeding, like really bad. So he put a towel on it to stop the bleeding. And I called 911," Lugo recounted. Witnesses believe a bull shark attached the girl Lugo said after they got the girl to shore, they tried to help her until paramedics arrived. "The hand, it was just hanging by this piece of the hands. The whole thing was completely hanging out. You can see bones all completely red. So we stopped bleeding. We tried to stop it. She put a towel on it and hold it into that place. So I sit down with her, and I was talking to the EMS arrived," he said. "Nine years old. I have a daughter, 9-years-old, same age. She was brave," he added. Witnesses said it was a bull shark that attacked the girl, but officials have not confirmed that. "It was a big shark, like eight feet. I would say like eight feet," Tello said. Some swimmers at the beach said this is why they stay close to shore. "You have to be careful, keep an eye out. How sad, that is very sad and I feel so bad for her," Pamela Krout said. Are shark attacks common in Florida? Last year, there were 28 confirmed shark bites in U.S. waters, accounting for 60% of the worldwide attacks. Half of U.S. attacks took place in Florida in 2024, which is also common for the state often known to experience the highest concentrations of shark bites of anywhere in the world. contributed to this report.
