Florida Shark Attack Update: Teen's First Words After Surgery

Survivors of last week's unusual rash of shark attacks in Florida's Walton County are recovering from amputations and other serious injuries.

A 45-year-old woman and two teenage girls were injured Friday in separate attacks that occurred within hours of each other. In the days that followed, all of the victims would recover from their injuries.

Ann Blair Gribbin, mother of 15-year-old victim Lulu Gribbin, shared an update on her daughter's condition and her first words after being taken off the ventilator on the CaringBridge website on Sunday.

“[Surgeons said] that the shark had bitten Lulu's left hand and they had to amputate her right leg halfway up, from the knee to the hip,” Gribbin wrote. “She had also lost 2/3 of her blood body. Of course, no one wants that for your child but she's alive.”

“Saturday… She did so well that they ended up taking the tube out of her throat and she was breathing on her own,” she added. “That was a big first step. Once she got settled in, her first words to us were, 'I made it.' And that's what she did.”

Gribbin went on to say that Lulu described the attack while she was recovering in hospital, saying the shark “bit her hand and then her leg” as she and five friends waded near a sandbar in search of sand dollars.

The shark then bit the foot of Lulu's 17-year-old friend before strangers came to her rescue. Officials said the friend suffered “minor injuries to one of her feet,” according to CBS affiliate WTVR.

“Lulu said a man grabbed her other arm and pulled her out and another younger boy helped carry her to shore,” Gribbin wrote. “Once on the shore, there were two doctors and two other young women including a nurse who surrounded Lulu.”

“These individuals applied tourniquets to Lulu's wounds. Which I believe was crucial in saving Lulu's life,” she continued. “At this point, we are going to have many surgeries in the coming days and our lives will be changed forever. Lulu is strong, beautiful, brave and many other things I can't count.”

In a later update shared Monday, Gribbin wrote that Lulu met two men who “removed the shark” and “helped carry her to the beach” while she was hospitalized and told the men “thank you for m 'having saved his life'. She also joked with a family member that “mommy and daddy get handicapped parking” because of her injuries.

News week contacted the Walton County Sheriff's Office for comment via email Tuesday evening.

The adult victim, Elisabeth Foley, was attacked less than two hours earlier and approximately four miles from the scene of the attack on Lulu and her friend. According to a fundraising page on the “Christian crowdfunding” website GiveSendGo, Foley lost his left hand and “suffered serious injuries to his midsection” in the attack.

Elisabeth's husband, Ryan Foley, said during a Sunday church service that his wife “held it together and had a super positive attitude” even though she had gotten “pretty high,” according to WTVR.

South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford called Friday's incidents “very unusual.” County officials contacted experts to determine what could have triggered these back-to-back shark attacks, which are normally rare events.

It was unclear whether a shark was responsible for both attacks. The type or types of sharks involved were also unknown, although officials said there was a “notable presence” of bull sharks in the area at the time, according to USA today.

Beaches near the attacks, which had been temporarily closed on Friday, were reportedly reopened on Saturday, with new warning flags installed.