A Colorado teen who lost her leg in a shark attack in Belize over the summer felt like she was in a “tug of war” with dangerous sea creatures as she tore off her limbs and injured her hand. said.
On August 6, Annabelle Carlson, 15, was on a diving trip with her family and a tour group to Lighthouse Reef near Half Moon Cay in the Bay of Honduras when she was attacked by two sharks shortly after jumping off her boat into the ocean. I was disappointed. .
Carlson tried to fight off the first shark that swam out from under her boat as she jumped into the water, but when the Belize Dive Pro tour operator tried to rescue her from danger, the second shark attacked her. changed his life forever.
“As they were pulling me in, a second shark bit my right leg.” Carlson told NBC News on Tuesday.explained that she felt helpless during the “horrifying” ordeal.
“It didn't hurt at all. It was weird because I felt like I was being pulled. It felt like I was in a bit of a tug-of-war…I was so pumped with adrenaline that the second shark grabbed my leg. I didn't even feel it attacking me.”
Carlson recalled throwing a scuba tank into the water, calling the people on the boat her “guardian angels” to deter the shark until she could get back to the ship.
Her mother, Kelly Carlson, said she was shocked by the brutal horror and feared for her eldest daughter's life.
“The moment they pulled her out, I knew right then and there that I had to do everything to save her life, because her leg was basically missing from the knee to the ankle,” said the mother. told the outlet.
“All the soft tissue from her knee to her ankle was gone, leaving only her tibia and fibula. She was completely white, so we didn't know if it would be successful.”
Carlson spent four months in the hospital, underwent seven arduous surgeries, including the first to have his leg amputated, battled a bacterial infection, and will spend the next six months being treated with a variety of antibiotics, the paper said. reported.
The Aspen native was also fitted with a prosthetic leg, which motivated her to resume athletic activities like lacrosse and skiing, and to return to the water with a sense of gratitude for being alive.
“I wake up every day with gratitude because I'm here and I'm able to walk again. I'm so lucky to be able to do that,” Carlson said.
“I think this situation really shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel, because I have a prosthetic leg now. I think I'm thriving, right? I hope to be able to return.”
