19-year-old speaks out after surviving shark attack in Texas

An Oklahoma teenager and her family are speaking out after the 19-year-old was attacked by a shark last month in Galveston, Texas.

Damiana Humphrey, 19, told “Good Morning America” ​​that she was wading in waist-deep water when a 4- to 5-foot shark latched onto her hand.

She said she started hitting the shark until it was freed.

“When I finally saw my hand, that's when I started to panic,” she told “GMA.”

Humphrey's father, Troy, also spoke to “GMA.” “I noticed her hand was up and her arm was bleeding,” he said.

The teenager was rushed to hospital, where she underwent surgery on her hand.

“I severed four tendons. And then I had a big hole on the top of my hand that they had to sew back together,” she said.

“This shark was looking for food for its prey, and in the murky water, all they see is a flash of movement, so this shark came to investigate, and it was just a case of mistaken identity,” said Dr. Kelsey Banks. researcher at the Harte Research Institute, told “GMA”.

As summer approaches, several shark attacks have recently made headlines in the United States. Three swimmers, including two teenagers, were attacked by sharks in two separate incidents while on beaches in Walton County, Florida, on Friday.

In Hawaii, a 25-year-old woman was taken to hospital following a shark bite incident off the north coast of Oahu on Friday around 2 p.m. local time, emergency services reported from Honolulu.

“EMS responded to the Haleiwa Small Craft Harbor where the patient had been brought ashore. EMS treated her for several severe lacerations before transporting her to the emergency room,” the agency said.

A 46-year-old man was seriously injured after being bitten by a shark in Southern California earlier this month, officials said.

While experts and authorities have advised beachgoers to take precautions, including avoiding swimming at dusk or dawn, Damiana Humphrey said the shark attack had not stopped her from returning to the 'water.