Addison Bethea is now awake and alert in the ICU of a Tallahassee hospital after she was nearly killed by the 9-foot beast while combing off Keaton Beach in Taylor County. To scare off the predator, Addison and her brother bravely fought off the shark, which bit her right leg twice before swimming away, her dad wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. “By the grace of God, she was joined by her brother Rhett Willingham, who is a first responder/firefighter, who acted quickly to literally wrestle the shark away and into a nearby stranger’s boat (thanks to whoever you are),” said her dad, Shane Bethea. After taking his sister to the safety of a boat, Willingham applied a tourniquet to her leg, preventing massive blood loss and saving her life, Shane continued. Addison was airlifted to the hospital once the boat reached shore and immediately underwent emergency surgery, he said. “[Doctors] she had to remove a vein from her left leg to create an artery in the right to try to restore blood flow to her leg and lower leg. The nerve in the back of the thigh was severely damaged. There is an unreal amount of damage to her thigh area,” Shane said. As of Friday, doctors were still unsure how serious the damage to her leg is and are monitoring her condition, Shane said. Addison will undergo a second surgery on Saturday, the hospital said in its own Facebook post on Friday. Shane also reported that Addison, who was sedated until Friday, is now able to communicate by typing on her phone, joking about beating up the shark and asking for an ice cream from Wendy’s. “He’s been through more than I could ever imagine, but he’s a trooper,” Shane said. “Please pray for her and her difficult days. She’s not out of the woods by any means, but she’s alive and that’s what’s most important to us.” In a separate Facebook post, Michelle Murphy, Addison’s mom, wrote that her daughter was surrounded by her older siblings and other family members at the hospital. “Right now, we’re just asking for continued prayers for our sweet girl,” Murphy said. “She’s a tough cookie and she’s got a long way to go, but she’s alive and that’s all mom cares about.” Another “possible” shark bite on Thursday prompted Florida officials in Nassau County, which is about 150 miles from Taylor County where Addison was attacked, to increase beach patrols over the July 4 holiday weekend , the New York Post reports. Patrols consist of lifeguards who jet ski along the shores of beach towns, watching for sharks.
