Teenager Lulu Gribbin undergoes amputation in Pensacola

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

One of three people attacked by a shark during a trip to the beach in Walton County was transported to Ascension Sacred Heart where they will undergo multiple amputation surgeries.

Ann Gribbin, the mother of 15-year-old Lulu Gribbin, shared the timeline on Sunday of how her daughter was attacked by a shark during a mother-daughter trip to Rosemary Beach on Friday, which ended with her hospitalization of Lulu Gribbin.

Ann Gribbin said she and her friends were returning from lunch Friday when she found her daughter lying on the beach, injured from the attack.

“I came across a group of people surrounding someone on the ground and I looked down and it was Lulu who was there,” the mother wrote on CaringBridge. “I saw his leg injuries and started screaming.”

Attack on Pensacola:'I was its prey': Pensacola fisherman describes attack on surviving mako shark

Beach medical responders then took Lulu Gribbin to a helicopter and she was flown to Pensacola where she immediately underwent surgery, Ann Gribbin wrote.

The mother said Lulu Gribbin had her right leg amputated to mid-thigh and her hand was missing after the shark bit her. Ann Gribbin said her daughter will likely need five additional surgeries to finalize the amputations.

On Saturday, Lulu Gribbin's vital signs changed in the right direction, according to her mother, and hospital staff were able to remove her from her breathing tube.

“It was a big first step,” wrote Ann Gribbin. “Once she settled in, her first words to us were, ‘I did it.

I am forever grateful to the three surgeons and all the nurses and doctors here at this hospital who saved Lulu,” she added. “I am grateful to the doctors and nurses on the beach that day .”

Ann Gribbin says her daughter's friend had her foot bitten by the shark after it attacked her daughter.

3 shark attacks within a few kilometers of each other lead to beach closures

Less than two hours before the attack on Lulu Gribbin in Rosemary Beach, a 45-year-old woman was also bitten by a shark while swimming near Founders Lane in Watersound Beach.

The attacks led to the closure of beaches in Walton and Bay counties until Saturday.

The Walton County Sheriff's Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife monitored the shoreline by boat throughout the weekend. Panama City Beach police, aboard the sheriff's office helicopter, reported Saturday seeing “a notable presence of sharks, particularly bull sharks,” near the first incident.

Pensacola fisherman attacked by shark while spearfishing in 2023

In 2023, Chad Patti and his friend Josh Loucks spent their New Year's Day spearfishing about 70 miles off the coast of Pensacola.

Patti, 30, and Loucks were about to call it a day and began the two-hour boat trip home. But before Patti could return to the boat, he was attacked by a mako shark.

Patti was unhurt during the attack and captured it on her GoPro camera.

Brandon Girod of the Pensacola News Journal and CA Bridges, Collin Bestor, Dan Rorabaugh and Cheryl McCloud of the USA Today Network contributed to this report.

Lina Portman

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