5 months ago
13
(NewsNation) — A teen has described however she punched and fought disconnected two sharks that attacked her portion she was connected a household abrogation successful Belize.
Annabelle Carlson, 16 of Colorado, was connected a scuba diving travel with her ma 3 hours disconnected the seashore of Belize successful August 2024 erstwhile she and her siblings decided to leap disconnected their boat.
Carlson jumped disconnected the vessel archetypal and told "Elizabeth Vargas Reports" connected Friday that arsenic soon arsenic she deed the water, "a shark came from nether the vessel and started biting my hands."
She reacted rapidly and "threw a fewer punches," explaining that warring disconnected the beast was her archetypal instinct.
"I didn't truly cognize what was going on, and past it benignant of dawned connected maine that I was being attacked by a shark," Carlson said.
She described the shark arsenic astir 6 feet agelong and said it was a reef shark.
Second shark attacks her leg
As she was being attacked, her household and different onlookers started to outcry and threw a beingness ringing successful her direction.
"I benignant of looped it successful my limb due to the fact that my hands were beauteous damaged, and they started to propulsion maine in, and that's erstwhile the 2nd shark attacked," she recounted.
She told section NewsNation affiliate KDVR successful Denver, Colorado, that radical started throwing oxygen tanks astatine the shark successful an effort to get it disconnected of her.
Annabelle described the 2nd onslaught arsenic "pretty serious."
"My limb was beauteous overmuch gone … it was benignant of conscionable bony from close beneath my genu to my ankle," she said.
Emergency effect and amputation
It took Carlson and her household astir an hr and a fractional to scope an island, wherever they could instrumentality a chopper to Belize Healthcare Partners infirmary successful Belize City. Her limb was amputated there, and little than 24 hours later, she was transferred to a infirmary successful Miami for further treatment.
Despite the trauma and a uncommon corruption during recovery, Carlson remains optimistic. She has already returned to scuba diving and says she chooses to absorption connected the affirmative broadside of life.
"I consciousness similar its champion to spot the affirmative broadside of things," she said.
Last Halloween, she dressed up arsenic a shark onslaught subsister alongside her friend, who wore a shark costume.
Annabelle Carlson, 16, dressed up arsenic a shark onslaught subsister adjacent to her person successful a shark costume (image from Annabelle Carlson)
