A 9-year-old girl snorkeling off Boca Grande, Florida, was attacked by a shark, leaving her with severe injuries.
Leah Lendel’s family told NBC affiliate WBBH of Fort Myers that she went underwater Wednesday and that as she came up, she started screaming. Her mother, who was about 4 feet away with her two toddlers, said she saw that Leah’s hand was covered in blood and mostly torn off, the station reported.
Her mother said she took the two toddlers to shore as her husband, who was also snorkeling, swam over. Leah was able to walk to shore, where nearby construction workers wrapped her hand in some T-shirts, according to the station.
Leah was airlifted to a hospital in Tampa, it reported. Her mother said that she underwent a six-hour operation and that doctors were able to put her hand back together.
Max Derinskiy, an uncle of Leah’s who created a GoFundMe campaign to help with medical expenses, told NBC News that she will remain in the hospital for a while and then faces "a lot of physical therapy to hopefully get her hand functioning again."
