The young Addison Bethea, 17, who was attacked last Thursday by a shark in waters near a beach in northwestern Florida and suffered "devastating damage" in one leg, a second intervention was scheduled for this Saturday, according to hospital sources.
The outcome of the surgery at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH), the medical center to which she was airlifted from Keaton Beach, is unknown at this time.
The girl was collecting "scallops"a type of mollusk similar to the scallop found on Florida beaches, when she was bitten multiple times by a 9 foot 2.7 meter shark long with which, according to Bethea’s father, Shane Bethea, he had to "quarrel" and hit the shark to make it leave her.
She finally managed to extricate herself with the help of her brother, Rhett Willingham, who is a firefighter and EMT, and put her on a boat that was at the scene and made a tourniquet to control the bleeding, which "saved his life"according to his father.
Once on land Addison was able to be airlifted to a Bixler Trauma & Emergency Center at TMH and be stabilized and operated on in an emergency to restore blood flow to the right leg.
According to a TMH statement, the shark attack caused Addison devastating soft tissue damage to her affected leg.
According to TMH, this Saturday she was to undergo a second surgery to further investigate the extent of the damage to her leg and determine what treatment options are available to save her.
"Addison has a long road to recovery, but she was in a good mood today, surrounded by her family at Tallahassee Memorial Pediatric Intensive Care Unit", the hospital noted.
Addison’s family thanked their community in Taylor County (Northwest Florida) and everyone who has reached out to "offer your prayers and support during this difficult time".
According to the International Shark Attack File, an entity linked to the University of Florida, this state is where more shark attacks on humans occur.
In 2021 there were 28 cases in Florida, which means 38% of the total that occurred that year worldwide, when there were a total of 73 unprovoked, of them 9 fatal, and 39 provoked.
