Original subtitles

My name is Brandon Spencer.

I am a reporter for WCTV Eyewitness News.

It's a beautiful day here on Keaton Beach now.

But early Friday morning, a storm created a waterspout,

leaving five boaters stranded.

Well, normally, that area, the Keaton Beach area,

the Perry area,

that's usually somewhere we go during, you know, hurricane season.

Um, I know there's a lot of flooding there

because of its proximity to, you know, the ocean and the water.

So, when you're thinking about storm surge

and you're thinking about the properties nearby the water,

that's what we're usually dealing with

whenever we're heading to that area.

I never thought I would be reporting on a shark attack in the Gulf Coast.

My name's Rhett Willingham.

I live in North Florida.

I'm a firefighter, EMT.

Addison is technically my half-sister.

We're very close.

We got up that morning.

My sister had been bugging me

about taking her scalloping.

Got out, anchored the boat up. Started scalloping.

We're probably about 100 yards away from the boat.

And I heard something.

I just kinda turned around, and then it pulled her under.

So I called 911 and was like, "Hey, we're coming in to Keaton.

""I need a helicopter."

Had to tell them how bad the injury was.

I'm Deputy William Deeson with the Taylor County Sheriff's Office.

All we received over the radio,

it was a four-inch laceration on a teenage female.

During scalloping season, you'll get injuries like a hook and a finger,

or, you know, somebody that's fallen off the boat and broken a bone.

But a shark bite was a first.

When the boat pulled up, I looked over and my initial thought was,

that's definitely not just a four-inch laceration.

You could see that it looked almost like a perfect bite.

A good chunk of the thigh was missing.

You could see directly to the bone.

It was just a very gruesome scene inside the boat.

I always carry a tourniquet.

This was the first incident where I've actually had to utilise it.

When the boat pulled up, I recognised Rhett.

He's part of the fire department.

And the sheriff's office and the fire department work hand in hand.

With him being a firefighter and EMT,

it was a great relief to see that it wasn't just anybody.

It was somebody who I knew could handle it.

I was worried.

Only thing that was going through my head was stopping the bleeding.

Looking at the injury on her leg,

I knew if EMS didn't get there soon,

that there was a very good chance that she was not gonna make it.

Your brain really doesn't wanna comprehend what's going on.

And all you can try to do is revert back to your training

and try to tell yourself just to stay calm and push through.

Getting a little bit more worried

'cause I knew there was a storm kinda rolling in.

You could see it.

She just lost a crap load of blood. She had a slim chance of survival.

The helicopter doesn't wanna take off when it's raining and windy,

so they were just kinda trying to hurry up

and get in north of the storm.

You can go from sunshine to storm in an instant.

It was definitely a big concern

as to whether she was gonna make it to the hospital or not.

You're up and out. That's cool.

Kevin, grab a corner.

Good job.

I was worried, and I don't think she's gonna live.

Thanks for joining us tonight at 11, everybody. I'm Abby Walton.

And I'm Ben Kaplan.

That attack happened this afternoon near Keaton Beach

as the girl was scalloping with her family.

Our Brandon Spencer in Taylor County tonight, with the very latest.

The dock that you see directly behind me

is where first responders here in Taylor County

brought a victim of a shark attack on the shore.

The young girl was attacked in a popular area called the Big Grass.

First responders got the girl to safety.

Everybody in the area was very shocked,

because shark attacks don't happen in the Gulf Coast,

especially in that Big Bend area.

Thoughts and prayers of the community are with the victim and their family.

Brandon Spencer, WCT Eyewitness News.

So, I was worried,

but at the same time, I'm like, "I think she's gonna live."

I think, you know, I thought I got the tourniquet on in decent time.

So, I wake up and I realise

I'm in the hospital.

I didn't remember my leg yet

and know anything about my leg for some reason.

When the doctors told me I was gonna have an amputation,

I didn't wanna accept it.

I was just in denial.

I was planning on going to college,

I had my senior year of high school football

and being a cheerleader ahead of me,

and now that's all thrown out the window.

Six days after my shark attack is when they finally amputated.

As a lot of you head to the beach for the holiday,

a warning - there are sharks off those shores.

Reports were coming in all across the country that shark sightings

were actually on the rise.

And with 4th of July weekend coming up,

a lot of the people were gonna be going to the beach.

And suddenly, everybody is starting to think, "Could this happen again?"

We're asking people to be shark smart.

Officials from California to Florida,

and all the way up to Cape Cod and Long Island,

are urging beachgoers to be extra careful when in the water.

Unprovoked attacks on the Gulf Coast are extremely rare.

So, I'm happy to say, for the rest of that year,

I did not have to report on any more shark attacks.

In Florida, new shark sightings

have swimmers on edge this morning.

The fins of a massive shark seen just feet away

from a man on a paddle board over the weekend, all in shallow waters.

My name is Ryan Foley, and I live in Ashland, Virginia

with my wife, Elisabeth,

and our three children, Laurel, Lyla and Dominick.

We had taken a family vacation to the Gulf Coast.

That particular day, we had plans to swim as a family,

go in the ocean together.

Bull sharks don't normally come this close to shore.

But warmer temperatures are driving them closer to the coast,

and this can lead to an increased likelihood of attacks.

If they do happen, it's usually a case of mistaken identity.

That doesn't make them any less serious.

And then, out of nowhere, very quickly, something happened to Lis.

So, me and about seven of my girlfriends go to 30A,

the beach, that specific beach, every year.

We love it because it's usually just girls trips.

So it's our time away, and we pay for all the convenience.

We have people set up our chairs.

So, it's just a girls' time and we relax and just enjoy each other.

Um, and we go to the same beach

because it's beautiful and...

it's safe, and we... we just love it.

It's always been our thing.

I stepped on the beach, maybe took five steps,

and I just hear the most blood-curdling scream.

So I immediately pull out my phone.

I dial 911.

I don't even know why I'm dialling 911 at the time that I did.

Um, I call 911 as I'm walking,

and all I see, I hear, "Shark attack!"

And all I see as I'm walking towards the water is just blood.

I mean, I can't even see ocean, it is just blood.

And I'm still on the phone with 911.

So, I'm just saying what I see.

"Oh, my gosh, there's so much blood. Oh, my gosh, there's so much blood."

I just remember telling the 911 dispatcher,

"Please hurry, please hurry. We're gonna lose her."

There he is.

You know, "Can you bring a helicopter in?"

"You guys need to get here quick."

Um, and I just remember counting her... her heartbeat

and watching her face

and watching her... her pursed lips and her breathing,

and just making sure that she was still with us.

297.

It was something out of a movie.

I... I don't think, even being in the medical field,

I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

I watched her face go from... normal pink, flushed cheeks

to not having colour and turning blue.

And at that point, I was... I was nervous.

I was very nervous.

I could barely feel... feel her heartbeat anymore.

I stayed next to Lis, holding her hand

and just letting her know I was there.

But the kids were being consoled by beachgoers as well.

It really just happened so fast.

My thoughts are, "Is she gonna bleed to death?"

She had all these people working on her.

I just didn't know how bad the... the injuries were.

I didn't know if she was gonna make it.

That was not going to be my last day of life.

I couldn't let it be.

It took all of the energy I had

to just stay conscious and breathe.

And, uh, just to remember that...

that I had a family to live for.

At my head,

I remember someone introduced herself.

She said, "My... my name is Alyssa. What is yours?"

I was rubbing sand on Elisabeth's face

to try to keep her conscious.

And so I told her...

"Alright, this is going to be...

"This is going to be hard."

And she said, "You remember what it was like to have children?"

She said, "It's an intensely painful process, but you get through it."

And I said, "It's going to be long, you're going to be in pain"

"and you're gonna look at me,"

"and we're going to get through this together."

I'm thinking of my children,

and that was so hard not to just want to grab them and hold them.

And it was probably one of the hardest things

that I've ever had to do is just to be helpless, laying there.

I honestly don't feel the pain between my legs.

Mostly, the pain is coming from my arm, which is just...

I can't describe to you the pain.

It is... It's indescribable.

It's primal. You start acting on instinct.

Even though the moments seem like they are...

Like, maybe 10 seconds is... is 10 minutes.

I remember at the time being upset that I couldn't go.

But then, for that split second, I'm, like, "I can't go anyways."

"I gotta take care of the kids."

Kids.

OK.

I told my daughter, Laurel,

you can call whoever you want...

and, uh, get the word out.

And, uh, she did.

And then I called my mom.

She held on.

And her kids saw her holding on.

And it was a privilege and an honour to be there for her

and for them.

My sister and I are cleaning off.

We're clearly shaken.

And as we approach the pool area...

we hear another alert

that there was a shark attack.

I'm thinking...

there's probably been a mistake.

I'm Delanie Quinnelly Richardson.

I'm from Daphne, Alabama.

We were there for a bachelorette trip for my sister-in-law.

That specific day, we were gonna go to the beach.

We all ran in the water, we were swimming.

As I was getting out of the water, I was about knee deep,

I heard just blood-curdling screams.

I just remember seeing that pool of blood in the water,

and my heart sank even more whenever I realised

that it was a little girl in the middle of all of that.

And I just remember thinking, like,

we're gonna do everything that we can,

everything possible to... to save her life,

and... and to do what we can until the professionals got there.

So, I was screaming at everyone,

"I need towels, I need shirts, I need supplies."

I tied the tourniquet around what was the remainder of her arm,

which was just a little bit below her elbow.

And that's whenever I saw her leg.

And I knew that it just got more serious.

It's very likely that she's not gonna make it.

And I was mentally preparing myself

to see a young girl die on the beach that day.

Her and I just kinda stepped back

and let, you know, the actual paramedics and the other men

load her up and get her on the truck.

I just knew that her life was gonna be changed forever.

I was walking over, back to our, um, our group.

And that's whenever I see the other victim.

And I was like, "There's another attack that happened up the beach."

All our efforts were all on one person,

and I just remember feeling guilty.

Like, none of us were able to go over there and help her.

Her wounds were a lot less significant.

But they were able to wrap her foot and get her bleeding to stop.

I'll never unsee what I saw that day.

Worst things that I've ever seen in my life.

Beachgoers in Walton County told to be careful

after one woman lost part of her arm to a shark bite.

It is rare, exceedingly rare,

to have three victims in one day.

Clearly, when you have two incidents in close proximity

within a short period of time, there's a pattern there.

I'd probably say the scariest thing

is the fact that we don't know

if it was just one shark,

or if it was multiple sharks in the same area.

Authorities around Walton County, Florida

now keeping a close eye on the shoreline

from the land, sea and skies,

reporting a notable presence of bull sharks,

urging beachgoers to stay shark aware.

Like getting struck by lightning, you don't think it's gonna happen.

And then two in one day? It's just insane.

It was honestly really strange for me

because it went from having zero attacks in the Gulf Coast

to multiple in just one day.

But things just keep getting crazier.

South Padre Island is a beautiful part of South Texas,

where it has literally just endless beaches.

And a lot of people go there, especially for 4th of July weekend.

I'm Rebecca Cardenas.

I am a nurse and I am from San Antonio, Texas.

We've been going to South Padre Island for over 30 years

and we've never heard of a shark attack happening, ever.

This 4th of July,

thousands flocking to South Padre Island.

Check out this view from our Sky 5 camera.

The beach is packed.

My name is Brandon Floores.

I'm from San Antonio, Texas,

and I live with my fiancee, Rebecca.

Rebecca has a very close family.

We always go on vacation together.

So, Brandon and I set up this 4th of July vacation with my parents.

It's no ordinary Tuesday on South Padre Island.

We came out today to celebrate freedom and liberty.

We got here about 8:30, 8:45, and the beach was already crowded.

The 4th of July is always one of the island's busiest weekends.

I decide

I'm gonna go out in the water and go for a swim.

I'm Jobe McAdams. I'm from Moore, Oklahoma.

So, I'm on vacation with my family.

They're ready to get in the water,

and all of a sudden, you see a fin sticking out of the water.

So I'm standing straight up, looking out onto the ocean.

And that's when it happened.

It hit me like a train.

And then I felt the teeth.

And I just felt every individual tooth sink into me.

I've never felt fear like that.

The lifeguards came up in a truck

and they came out, looked at me,

their... their jaws dropped and they took a step back

just in pure disbelief of what's going on.

They weren't expecting it. They weren't prepared for it.

I was shocked at what was going on and what was happening.

I was overwhelmed.

His right leg was still covered in towels and... and a tourniquet.

And you can definitely tell that there was a lot of blood.

And the whole time I'm thinking, "I'm definitely gonna lose my leg.

"I can't believe I'm gonna lose my leg."

"I'd almost rather die than lose my whole leg."

I can't believe it. This is a... a serious attack.

And just like a month ago,

nobody is sure if this is one shark or multiple sharks.

Shortly after, the Department of Health and Safety

are in a helicopter trying to locate the shark.

There's a helicopter flying through the sky trying to locate the shark.

My instinct is to, like, to grab a camera.

The shark, it just keeps swimming south.

So I just follow it.

The Department of Health and Safety are trying to shut down the beaches.

But the problem is,

there's 34 miles of packed beachgoers for the 4th of July.

Ooh!

My name's Tabatha Sullivent.

I live in Celina, Texas.

So, we're taking a week vacation.

The kids wanna go boogie boarding.

And, of course, I wanna go out and try to get over

where the waves aren't knocking us off our feet.

So, we're out there in... in the deeper water.

Just watching everybody out there.

I just got through getting a drink and sitting down.

So, we're in the water.

I turn around and I look behind me and I see its eyes.

It looks at me, I look at it, and it bites me.

I see my wife fighting with something.

Something grabbed a hold of her. I didn't know what it was.

And then that's when I did my diving punch on him.

First thing I thought to myself - "My wife just died."

She was as white as a sheet.

You know, she wasn't talking, but her eyes were still open.

I just kept talking to her.

I can't even explain what I was feeling,

'cause it all just hit at once.

I think you're gonna be OK.

But I just kept talking to her, you know?

This is the female? No. The one on the ground.

That's her.

I lost, like, 75% of my blood.

Yeah, at that point, I'm just...

I'm just laying there

and just letting people do what they need to do to make sure I'm OK.

And so I was very close to not making it.

I'm looking up at the sky, and I'm just thinking,

"Stay focused."

I'll be on my way.

And I'm focusing on my kids, of course.

And about that time, you know, they carry me up to the ambulance.

I got her neck.

Many people endured life-changing injuries

because of these shark attacks.

And the picture that we once knew

about shark behaviour in the Gulf Coast has now changed.

It's all surreal. It's all unbelievable.

And, of course, I keep looking at my leg and it's just making it worse.

I'm seeing the blood, I'm seeing the meat, the bone.

I'm scared.

The shark has basically ripped my pelvic area to shreds,

and taken a huge bite out of my right thigh.

My hand was completely gone,

and there was about four inches of my bone sticking out.

My husband doesn't like to hear it,

but he's definitely my hero.

There's not many husbands out there that will fight off a shark for you

and live to tell the story.

It was impulse, instinct.

Um... uh...

I was just doing what I...

I was just doing what I was supposed to do. That's all.

I did wanna kill that shark, though.

I remember the first time I woke up in a hospital bed

and I could see my leg.

It looked so skinny.

If you think about it, I don't have a calf anymore.

So, dancing is... It's not going great yet.

But, you know, I got on the dance floor, just little baby steps.

Overall, I would say life is almost back to normal.

So, I woke up from anaesthesia.

I remember the first thing I did was grab my leg.

It was still there, and I got a sense of relief.

I actually breathed out.

I was like... I still have my leg.

So that was... That was nice.

And then I made a full recovery.

Life is back to normal for me, except I have a story to tell.

A lot of people have said

marriage comes with all their trials and tribulations,

and you guys are just being tested early

and you guys are gonna go through a lot in your life

and this is just one of the things

that you guys have to stick together with.

I really pushed myself to be able to do homecoming court,

which is, like, a very big thing in high school for me.

And then I finally got to do homecoming court

and walked the field with no crutches.

Running down the field!

And, I mean, she still loves the ocean.

She said she would go scalloping again,

but that I would have to go with her.

Unfortunately.

For her to go through what she's had

to endure and... and deal with,

to have the attitude that she has

and the strength

and the... the resolve

to, you know, fight through what she's had to go through,

I mean, she's just an absolutely incredible person.

I'm lucky to not only know her,

but the fact that I'm married to her, it's just amazing.

Believe it or not, I don't hate sharks.

I know shark attacks

are extremely rare.

I would encourage people not to be scared,

but just be aware of your surroundings.

I had my celebration of life

while I was still living.

What I come away from this thinking

is that people are inherently good,

and it is just incredible

to be the recipient

of such, uh, generous spirits.