The shark bit into the woman’s legs like a bear trap, causing the woman to clutch her legs tightly as she felt a “body crawl” between them.
“I started shaking and kicking wildly, trying to shake the shark off, but you’re no match for it in the water,” Debbie Salamone told Fox News Digital. “As the shark’s grip tightened, I yelled, ‘I’ve got you.'”
She was in waist-deep water, 50 feet from Cape Canaveral National Seashore in Florida, but was unable to move.
Salamone said he felt the “corpses” rubbing against his legs and swarming all around him. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this feeding frenzy,'” he said.
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Debbie Salamone was working as a dancer and reporter in 2004 when she was bitten by a shark and had her Achilles tendon severed. (Shark conservationists survive shark attacks/Facebook)
“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know if a shark is eating my leg. Everything feels the same. There’s a lot of pressure and pain,” Salamone said.
“There was blood swirling in the water and I was trying desperately to get back to shore but with every step it was getting harder and harder,” the shark finally let go.
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Ms Salamone’s Achilles tendon was completely severed and the front of her leg was “cripped” over the top of her foot. “Her heel was completely torn off,” she said.
In 2004, her then-partner grabbed her arm and dragged her to shore, where she collapsed, blood gushing with the waves.
Debbie Salamone (third from left) is surrounded by other shark attack survivors who are advocates for shark conservation. (Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation/Pugh)
On December 10, 2020, a blacktip shark was photographed swimming during a baited shark dive in Umkossoah, near Durban, South Africa. (Michelle Spatali/AFP via Getty Images)
Incredibly, one of the few people remaining on the beach was a nurse who rushed to Salamone’s aid.
But it was a race against time. The approaching hurricane storm was getting stronger, thunder was roaring, lightning was lighting up the sky, and more waves were crashing onto the shore.
Salamone’s legs became “mangled” and he was no longer able to walk.
“We crawled along the beach, step by step,” Salamone said. “It took a while for rescuers to arrive.”
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Paramedics finally reached her and rushed her down the coast to a nearby hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery and remained in hospital for three days.
But the hospital was in the hurricane’s path, and “they were trying to get everyone they could out of the hospital,” Salamone said.
Underwater shot of a swimming shark. (iStock)
Debbie Salamone has worked hard to further shark conservation since the 2004 attack. (Shark conservationists survive shark attacks/Facebook)
By the time she was released from the hospital, the hurricane had wreaked havoc in the area, with residents flocking to gas stations and everything, including medical clinics, closed and on lockdown.
A few days after returning home, she said the electricity went out and she felt “hot and uncomfortable” with her legs up.
Multiple hurricanes battered the Florida coast, and her 18-month recovery began.
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At the time, she was passionate about ballroom dancing, but when she saw the sequined dress and high-heeled shoes, “I thought I’d never dance again,” Salamone said.
“I’ve always felt passionate about nature and I really felt this was the ultimate betrayal. I was upset, I was angry and I really hated sharks. I hated nature.”
Debbie Salamone was an avid ballroom dancer, but after the shark attack she remembers seeing the sequined dresses and high-heeled shoes. “I remember thinking I’d never dance again,” Salamone said, which led to a hatred of sharks for years. (Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation/Pugh)
From pain to power
With the snap of her fingers, Salamone’s life was suddenly torn apart. She found herself at a crossroads.
She could continue to wallow in pity and wallow in hatred, or she could meet the challenge head on.
“If I can forgive the ocean for its darkest side, then maybe I can really be the most sincere and heartfelt advocate for the environment and the ocean?” Salamone recalled thinking. “I decided, yeah, I get it, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Florida has been named the shark attack capital of the world
Although she enjoyed dancing, she was a reporter at the Orlando Sentinel, where she became the environment editor and returned to college to get a master’s degree in environmental science and policy.
Today, she is one of the world’s most passionate shark conservationists, having founded the organization Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation in 2009, which brings together shark survivors from around the world to promote conservation efforts.
Watch: Cape Cod Conservation Society’s Great White Video
What bit her? Expert advice
Looking back, she said it was a bad omen when, as she made her way to shore, “a big fish just jumped out of the water right next to me.”
The shark that bit her was likely chasing the fish before mistaking her foot for food and nibbling on her foot and leg.
Salamone doesn’t know exactly what kind of shark attacked him, but he believes it was most likely a spinner or blacktip reef shark because of its size – about five to six feet long – and how close it was to shore.
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Dr Megan Winton, a shark expert who leads research efforts at the Atlantic Great White Shark Recovery Centre on Cape Cod, said the worst thing a person could do when attacked by a shark is to fight, splash and thrash around.
“It draws attention and makes it look like a wounded animal,” Winton told Fox News Digital. “And moving whatever the part is back and forth over the teeth in the shark’s mouth could make the wound worse.”
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Winton said if anyone finds themselves in a dire situation like Salamone’s, the best thing to do is fight back by attacking the shark’s eyes and gills.
“They are softer, more sensitive and more likely to drop resisting prey,” Winton said.
