Florida shark attack victims recover from life-changing injuries – Orlando Sentinel

By STEPHANY MATAT (Associated Press)

WEST PALM BEACH — Days after a shark attack in the Florida panhandle cost teenager Lulu Gribbin her left hand and right leg, her mother said the first words she spoke after the attack operation were “I succeeded”.

Gribbin was one of three people injured in shark attacks Friday lasting about 90 minutes in Walton County.

In an article on Caringbridge.org, Lulu Gribbin's mother, Ann Blair Gribbin, said the attack happened during her and Lulu's first mother-daughter beach outing. She described the scene as “something out of a movie” and said her daughter was on a sandbar in waist-deep water looking for sand dollars when she was bitten.

A man grabbed her uninjured arm, pulled Lulu out and was quickly surrounded by beachgoers, including two doctors and a nurse. The teen, from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was then flown to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola.

“At this point we will have several surgeries in the coming days and our lives will be changed forever,” Ann Blair Gribbin wrote. “Lulu is strong, beautiful, brave and many other things I can't count. God has a plan for her, and we will be there to support her in any way we can.

The first victim of Friday's attacks was Elisabeth Foley, a 45-year-old wife and mother from Virginia, who lost her left hand and was seriously injured in the stomach. Gribbin, 15, was the second person bitten and her friend McCray Faust suffered a minor foot injury.

Walton County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Corey Dobridnia said in a statement Monday that the victims were in stable condition despite having “potentially life-altering injuries.” Dobridnia also encouraged beachgoers to watch for beach flags and be aware of their surroundings in the water.

Authorities closed beaches on Friday and posted warning flags indicating high risks on Saturday. Monday morning, yellow flags were flown to indicate moderate waves or currents, according to the Visit South Walton website.

“We are guests in the Gulf,” Dobridnia wrote. “We all have to accept a certain amount of risk when entering the water. This doesn't take anything away from these two ladies whose lives were changed forever.

Gavin Naylor, director of the shark research program at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said he believes the presence of menhaden fish — bait fish that attract sharks — may have led to the attacks. Worldwide, about 50 to 80 people are bitten each year and about five die, he said.

In Florida, the victims “were in the wrong place at the right time,” he said.

Foley's husband, Ryan Foley, wrote a statement to their church, Winns Baptist Church in Glen Allen, Virginia, saying his wife is “holding it together and has a super positive attitude.”

“Thank God she’s so tough and in great physical condition. His faith is what gets him through, coupled with countless other blessings,” Foley wrote.