Church holds service for Alabama teens

A Mountain Brook church is holding a prayer service Sunday for two of its teenage members who were injured in a shark attack Friday afternoon along Florida's Gulf Coast.

The service is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, located at 3736 Montrose Road, Birmingham, AL 35213.

At the church service Sunday morning, Rev. Richmond Webster said both girls were active in the church's youth group and were well-loved.

> > PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 2 teens, Mountain Brook woman seriously injured in back-to-back shark attacks along Florida's Gulf Coast

Firefighters said a shark attacked the girls near Sandy Shores Court, off Seacrest Beach.

They were swimming in waist-deep water with a group of friends just inside the first sandbar of the beach.

One of the girls suffered serious injuries to an upper limb and a lower limb. She was flown to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola, where she was listed in critical condition.

The second girl received a “skin injury” to her right foot and was in stable condition.

South Walton Fire District officials said several citizens with medical expertise were on scene and provided “life-saving assistance.”

Less than two hours earlier, around 1:20 p.m., and about four miles west of there, the Walton County Sheriff's Office and South Walton Fire District responded to another shark attack.

The Walton County Sheriff's Office reported that a 45-year-old woman was injured in a shark attack on Founders Lane in Watersound Beach, Florida.

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The woman, who reportedly swam past the first sandbar of the beach with her husband, suffered “significant trauma to her abdomen and pelvic region” and lost the lower part of her left arm, according to the South Walton Fire District.

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She was immediately treated on the beach before being flown to HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.

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“These types of incidents, although we have had a few here throughout our history, are very unusual, extremely unusual for two to occur on the same afternoon and within four miles of each other. 'other,' the South Walton Fire District chief said. Ryan Crawford.

Double red flags flew on Walton County beaches, officially closing the Gulf of Mexico to the public until further notice.

Earlier in the day, the South Walton Fire District displayed yellow and purple flags to signal moderate surf hazards and stinging marine life.

The Walton County Sheriff's Office said the last shark incident in Walton County was in June 2021. A 14-year-old survived a bite to the chest after swimming 40 yards from shore in the park of Grayton State.

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