Mountain Brook teen recalls twin sister's horrific shark attack and heartbreaking rescue: 'All I see is blood'

A Mountain Brook teenager who watched in horror as her twin sister lost a hand and leg in a Florida shark attack has written about the horrific ordeal and thanked those who saved the 15-year-old's life .

Lulu Gribbin and McCray Faust, 16, both students at Mountain Brook High School, were on a mother-daughter trip to Florida's Gulf Coast last week when the teens were bitten while searching for sand dollars with their friends.

Gribbin was seriously injured and Faust was badly bitten on the foot.

A 45-year-old Virginia woman – Elisabeth Foley – was also seriously injured in another attack less than two hours earlier and about four miles away.

Lulu remains in a Florida hospital, having undergone several surgeries with more to come. His plight has sparked widespread concern and support across the country.

Businesses in Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills support her by raising money by selling or donating purple bows, her favorite color.

A Homewood company designed and sells bracelets that read “I made it,” which were among Lulu's first words to her parents, Ann Blair and Joe Gribbin, after the attack.

Holland & Birch donates 40 percent of its sales to Lulu's recovery.

A Caring Bridge website has been launched to chronicle Lulu's progress, and her twin sister, Ellie, is now sharing her experience of Friday's attack, from her perspective. Lulu is one of four Gribbin siblings.

The group was vacationing at Seacrest Beach and was looking forward to a few days of sun and surf.

On Friday, around 10:30 a.m., they went to the beach, where they sunbathed, swam and played volleyball.

Most of the group turned up around noon for lunch. Ellie and one of their friends stayed on the beach because they wanted to swim to the second sandbar.

“We borrowed a bodyboard and a hot pink sparkly float to accompany us to the second sandbar, as it is very far away and extremely deep,” Ellie wrote. “Between the first and second sandbars we found a lot of sand dollars and wildlife.”

“As soon as we got to the second sandbar we realized something was wrong, so we each swam once to touch the bottom, then quickly went back to shore because we were scared,” said Ellie writes.

Their friends joined them on the beach for another game of volleyball.

Ellie said she wanted everyone in the group to find a sand dollar so they could all take a photo together.

“So we convinced everyone to go to the water,” Ellie said. “Plus, we convinced them to go in the water because some guys were getting into it, so everyone wanted to make new friends.”

Soon after, Ellie writes, the shark appeared.

One of the girls said, “What is that?” and another shouted “shark”.

Ellie said she and another girl “started swimming to save our lives.”

“Suddenly I heard Lulu shout something like, ‘keep calm,'” she wrote. “I finally get close to the shore, so I get up and turn around and my life has changed forever.”

“Instantly, all I see is blood. The whole ocean is red, the waves are bringing the blood together,” she said.

“And then I see my sister, she's screaming for help, and then she reaches out to Lila because she's the closest to her and I can see her arm, her arm without her hand,” he said. -she writes. “It was just a limb of flesh, blood and muscle, no hands to be found.”

Ellie said she started crying and screaming, “That's my sister.”

Several bystanders stepped in to help, including Stephen Beene, who pulled Lulu from the shark, and Matthew Lidle, who took Lulu from Beene and carried her to shore.

“I immediately see that not only was his hand missing, but practically his entire leg,” Ellie wrote. “I can see his whole femur and there's barely any muscle left, I don't even think his foot was still there, but I don't remember.”

Doctors and nurses who were also on vacation there intervened by putting tourniquets on Lulu's wounds.

“My mind went blank,” Ellie wrote. “It was just me and Lulu against the world.”

“I reassured her over and over again that everything was going to be OK and that she was doing great,” she said. “She started closing her eyes and a man told her to keep them open, so I opened them for her because I was afraid she would die if I didn't.”

The twins' mother, who had gone to lunch with her friends, later returned to find crowds and chaos on the beach.

“As soon as I found my mother, we held each other's forearms and I told her that the person who had been bitten by the shark was Lulu,” Ellie wrote. “She ran towards Lulu but could do nothing but look at her. She couldn't hug her, kiss her, or say anything to her.

“And then she saw Lulu’s leg,” she wrote. “She let out a horrible scream that I will never forget.”

Ellie said she stayed strong for her sister and mother, answering questions from first responders. She also used a stranger's phone to call her father.

“Then I finally cried. I told him Lulu had been bitten by a shark and mom was really struggling,” she said. “I told him I was trying to be strong, but I didn't know how long I could stay like this.”

“I told him to go ahead and start driving there, and then he said, ‘You can do it. I love you.'''

The family began the drive to Pensacola, to the hospital where Lulu had been flown.

Ellie said she spoke on the phone with her grandmother and told her, “You'll never be able to cheer for us by playing volleyball together again.”

“She told me it was okay, because Lulu wanted to be a doctor and she didn't need volleyball to be a doctor,” she wrote.

Ellie said she couldn't believe what was happening.

“I don’t remember who I told it to, but I told someone, I hope it’s just a dream and when we wake up tomorrow life will go back to normal,” she wrote. “Well I found out it wasn't a dream but actually a nightmare.”

When Ellie was able to see her twin, she said she held Lulu's hand and cried.

“When she was extubated we hugged and she started crying again and told me she was sorry she had to go through that, she told me how proud she was of me and how much she loved me,” Ellie wrote. “I told her we were in this together and how strong and loved she was.”

Ellie thanked everyone who helped that day.

“Thanks to Steve for saving my twin and best friend. Thanks, Matt, for going into the water and helping her by giving her a tourniquet. Thanks to the doctor who put a tourniquet on Lulu's arm,” she wrote. “Thanks to the doctor who took Lulu's pulse (sorry for pushing you away, I thought Lulu didn't like That).”

“Thank you to all the other doctors who helped save his life on the beach that day. Thank you to all the paramedics, flight surgeons, nurses and doctors who also helped save Lulu's life that day,” she wrote. “I will be forever grateful to each and every one of you.”

The Caring for Lulu Fund was created to help her on her long road to recovery.

Donations are accepted through Zelle via [email protected].

Donations can also be made by check payable to Richard Littrell and Stephen Faust FBO Lulu Gribbin, and mailed to Oakworth Capital Bank, ATTN: Richard Littrell FBO Lulu Gribbin, 850 Shades Creek Parkway, Suite 200, Birmingham, Alabama 35209.