A 9-year-old girl survived a shark attack in Florida.
Leah Lendel said it happened too quickly for her to even process.
“I didn’t see anything. I was just snorkeling and then I went up to breathe. And something bit me. I pick up my hand and it’s all in blood,” said Lendel.
Lendel’s parents recalled the terrifying moment.
“Instantly I figured out that it was a shark,” said Jay Lendel, Leah’s father.
“I heard this yell, or scream, and I saw, like the fling of an arm, and it was like almost completely gone,” said Nadia Lendel, Leah’s mother.
Lendel was airlifted to a hospital where several doctors awaited her arrival.
“We know that there’s this critical time about that six hour mark where we start to lose muscle,” said Dr. Joshua Linnell, who helped with Lendel’s recovery.
Doctors say Lendel suffered significant tissue loss. The procedure required taking artery grafts from her leg.
“The shark’s teeth are so so sharp that the cut through the wrist is clean,” said Dr. Alfred Hess.
A doctor says the clean cut helped the surgery be a success.
Shortly after the operation, Lendel already started moving parts of her hand.
“I was just like, praise God,” said Lendel.
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