Addison Bethea’s harrowing ordeal began around 3pm on Thursday when the teenager and her half-brother, Rhett Willingham, 22, went out to comb their hair in just five feet of water near Grassy Island, off the beach Keaton in Taylor County.
“Rett was like hitting me and something was sticking to my leg. And I said, “That’s not Rhett.” I look over and there’s this big old shark,” Addison told WTXL.
“I remembered watching Animal Planet that you’re supposed to punch them in the nose or something – but I couldn’t get to his nose like he bit me,” he explained.
Her father, Shane Addison, 46, told DailyMail.com on Friday that his daughter was on his brother Rhett’s boat about a mile and a half offshore and was swimming in the water when she suddenly felt something hit her on the back of the leg. .
Addison Bethea, 17, is pictured at the hospital in Tallahassee days after being attacked by a shark. Brother Rhett Willingham, 22, left, saved her life by beating the shark
Dad Shane Addison, 46, says he’s thankful his daughter is alive after shark attack
Addison said at first she thought her brother was playing around and it wasn’t until she looked down that she realized it was a shark
“Addison thought her brother was just playing around until a 9-foot shark latched onto her thigh and she started screaming and there was blood everywhere,” he said.
As his daughter tried to pull the shark off her leg, her brother began to hit the beast relentlessly trying to get his sister off. As soon as she was freed, he grabbed her and carried her to his boat. A random stranger saw that the couple was in distress.
Rhett placed his sister in the stranger’s boat and then used a 4-foot tourniquet around the top of her right leg to stop the bleeding.
“The shark did her bad,” Shane said. “She was very pale and almost in shock.”
Rhett called for an ambulance, and when they got back to land, she was airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital about 80 miles away.
Addison was rushed into emergency surgery. Doctors must now decide whether they will be able to save part of the leg for a prosthesis.
Rhett Willingham, 22, saved his sister Addison Bethea, 17, during a shark attack on Thursday
Growing up in Florida, Addison is familiar with the area’s beaches and did hair
He is scheduled for another surgery on Saturday.
“The shark attacked her right leg, the quadratus anterior muscle was completely destroyed. It was devastating, a bad, bad wound. The vascular surgeon took the vein from the left leg and turned it into an artery for the right leg to have blood flow.’
He said: “She has lost her leg but the doctors are trying to avoid taking her leg out of her hip.”
Her father said the shark bit her lower leg first and it wasn’t that bad, but the second bite was when all the damage was done.
“The shark latched onto her leg and was circling. This is where the sharks grab the meat and tear it apart. That’s what sharks do when they attack.’
Addison Bethea was attacked by a shark near Grassy Island, off Keaton Beach in Taylor County
He said his daughter was sedated and intubated. She said she didn’t know the extent of the damage until he told her.
“When she woke up, she was intubated and unable to speak. We gave her our cell phone and she texted that she wanted a “Frosty from Wendy’s”.
His father said that Addison was in a very good mood, but sometimes he felt extremely sad. Her friends also came to visit her in the ICU.
Shane said his daughter was a cheerleader, played tennis and was very active as she prepared to enter high school.
“The doctors are doing another surgery on Saturday and we’ll see what they can do. Above the knee or worst case scenario the hip,” Shane explained.
Surgeons will now try to save enough tissue from her lower leg to make it suitable for prosthetics.
“The fact that she’s still alive is the number one thing!” Shane said.
“The fact that she’s still alive is the number one thing!” Shane said of his daughter, Addison
Along many of Florida’s beaches are posted signs warning swimmers, surfers, to “be aware of danger when entering the water.” Florida tops the world charts for shark bites and accounts for nearly 40% of unprovoked shark bites worldwide, according to The International Shark File (ISAF).
The sheriff’s office said “swimmers and divers are cautioned to be alert, vigilant and practice shark safety.”
The critical rules for beachgoers to follow is to never swim alone. Do not enter the waters near fishermen, especially on sandbars where sharks often like to congregate.
Swimmers are also advised not to swim near large schools of fish and to avoid jerky movements while in the water.
On June 22, a 62-year-old man suffered “serious stomach and leg injuries” at Lovers Point Beach in Monterey Bay, California, located in Pacific Grove, north of the city of Monterey.
The man, identified as Steve Bruemmer, was attacked by the shark around 11am.
He was rushed to Natividad Medical Center where he was reported to have suffered no damage to his arteries or organs.
Bruemmer, a triathlete, told NBC Bay News that he has been swimming in the bay at least twice a week for the past 10 years.
A nurse and police officer, who were paddle boarding nearby, and a surfer teaching a beach safety class, heard the swimmer’s cries for help and rushed to his aid.
Brummer, thankful to have survived, expressed his gratitude for the life-saving actions of good Samaritans.
In a statement released by the hospital a day after the attack, Bruemmer said: “The shark bite was unfortunate. But after that, I just had so much good luck.’
Tracking Sharks is a worldwide shark attack information website that provides information on why shark attacks happen and offers ways to prevent negative shark encounters in the future.
Since July 1, there have been 32 shark attack bites (3 induced), 4 fatal attacks, publicly reported and verified in 2022, according to the website.
Fifteen of the shark attacks occurred in the United States (Hawaii 0, Florida 9, California 1), 9 in Australia (1 fatal), according to Tracking Sharks.
If a person encounters a shark while in the water, experts recommend staying still and not swimming away.
If the shark does attack, experts recommend hitting the shark with full force on the nose due to its sensitivity. In most cases, experts say, this will drive the shark away.
They also advise that if a shark is circling someone in the water and does not appear to be in immediate danger, the important thing is to remain still and alert until it swims away.
A shark attack occurred at Lovers Point Beach in Monterrey Bay, California, with the victim being rushed to hospital after suffering serious injuries to his stomach and leg.
Lovers Point Beach in Monterrey Beach, California (pictured here) was closed for 48 hours after the June 22 attack that left a male surfer with serious injuries
Florida tops the world charts for shark bites and accounts for nearly 40 percent of unprovoked shark bites worldwide, according to The International Shark File (ISAF).
Based at the Florida Museum of Natural History and the University of Florida, ISAF is “the world’s only scientifically verified database of shark attacks,” according to its website.
Since its inception in 1958, there are now more than 6,800 individual surveys covering the period from the early 1500s to the present day, ISAF said.
The graph shown here shows September as the month with the highest number of shark attacks, with August following close behind. January appears as the month with the least number of shark attacks
The chart depicted here shows the most popular time of day, in a 24 hour cycle, a person is likely to be attacked by these fearsome predators. According to the graph, from 11 A.M. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., are peak hours when these predators want to feast
The graph shown here describes the type of shark involved in many of these unprovoked shark attacks. According to the chart, “Requiem sharks” from the carcharhinidae family are responsible for 36% of shark attacks. These sharks are commonly found around the world in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers
The chart depicted here shows that victims of unprovoked shark attacks were at their highest level between 2010 and 2019. Those victims who participated in marine activities, categorized as “surface recreationalists,” which include surfing, water skiing, windsurfing, boogie boarding, rafting or floating in inflatables, at the time of the attack
Considered the Shark Bite Capital of the World, Volusia County in Florida had the most shark bites (17), accounting for 63% of all attacks in Florida, according to ISAF.
Florida’s 28 cases represent 60% of the US total and 38% of unprovoked bites worldwide.
That’s in line with Florida’s most recent five-year annual average of 25 incidents.
