The species of shark is still unknown, as the animal was not spotted when first responders arrived. Photo: Gerald Schombs//Unsplash
A young girl had her hand partially severed due to an apparent shark bite this Wednesday. As NBC affiliate WBBH reports, the victim was a nine-year-old named Leah Lendel, who was snorkeling with her family in the waters off the coast of Boca Grande, Florida.
The bite occurred around 12 p.m., when her mother, Nadia, who was nearby with Leah’s two younger siblings, heard a scream. She looked over to see Leah’s right hand up to the wrist covered in blood and “mostly torn off,” as she told WBBH. Nadia then screamed for help, as she tried to get the toddlers to shore in order to help Leah. NBC reports that Leah eventually managed to exit the water on her own.
Leah’s father, who was also snorkeling nearby, swam as fast as possible to shore to lend aid. There, they were joined by nearby construction workers and another good Samaritan. The group was able to fashion a tourniquet for the girl and call 911. Her injuries were severe enough to require helicopter transport to a Tampa hospital, during which she was accompanied by her father. Once there, she underwent a six-hour surgery on the injured hand.
Since then, Nadia Lendel posted an update on Leah’s condition via Instagram story. “Yesterday, she had a very long surgery to save her hand (her wrist and fingers),” she wrote, “Praise God Almighty for the doctors, they were able to get blood flow to her entire hand and all of her fingers. They had to put pins to put all her bones together and take arteries from her leg to put in her hand. From what I saw, her hand was hanging on by a thread. I thought she would lose her hand for good.”
Nadia also added that, since the surgery, Leah has been able to move two of her fingers. However, she still has a long road to recovery ahead of her. “The doctors were able to do some miracles and put her hand back together,” Leah’s uncle Max Derinskiy told NBC News. “She will be in the hospital for a while and then a lot of physical therapy to hopefully get her hand functioning again.”
