NEAR FORT MYERS, Fla. (WSVN) — A young girl is recovering in the hospital after she was attacked by a shark in Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Nine-year-old Leah Lendel was swimming with her family in the waters off Boca Grande, near Fort Myers, on Wednesday when the attack occurred.
The child’s parents recalled her screaming and then saw her right hand had been severed and covered in blood up to her wrist.
Good Samaritans who were working nearby called 911 and used a towel to make a tourniquet to help stop the blood loss.
Leah was airlifted to a Tampa hospital and underwent surgery to try and save her hand.
Boca Grande’s fire chief said she is expected to survive.
As of late Wednesday night, it remains unclear whether or not doctors were able to save her hand.