3 days ago
Girl, 9, speaks out after shark attack left her hand 'almost completely gone'
Leah Lendel, 9, emerged from the water with her hand hanging 'by a thread' after she was attacked during a family snorkelling adventure off the coast of Florida
A bave nine-year-old girl has recalled the horrific moments her wrist was bitten off during a terrifying shark attack in Florida.
Little Leah Lendel had been snorkelling off the sore of Boca Grande, about 100 miles south of Tampa, with her influencer mum Nadia and her siblings on June 11. But what was supposed to be a fun family day out turned into very parent's worst nightmare when a shark brutally attacked Leah.
Bystanders said an 8ft bull shark bit off Leah's hand down to the wrist. When Leah emerged from the water, she was covered in blood. Thankfully, nearby construction workers were close by and assisted by making a tourniquet out of a beach towel as the family called 911 for help.
Leah's father, Jay Lendel, said on Thursday that emergency responses arrived in about three minutes.
Tello and his co-workers had been on a lunch break when they heard Leah's screams. They rushed into the water, though at first they did not know she had just been attacked by a shark. Construction worker Alfonso Tello told local outlets: "When we see that little girl come out from the water with no hand, it was like something out - it gets me. Everybody was in shock.
Leah was airlifted to Tampa along with her dad and underwent emergency surgery in a bid to reattach her hand. Now, Leah has spoken out for the first time about the terrifying attack.
Speaking to Fox Orlando she said: ""I was just snorkeling, and then I went up to breathe, and then something hard bit me, and then it tried to tug me away." She continued, "Then I picked up my hand, and it's all in blood. Then I started screaming with my mum and then my dad was with me, he picked me up and then we ran to the road."
At the press conference Leah's dad explained: "I was trying to hold myself together, I think I was crying more than she was," he added: "I'm just very greatful she's alive"
Nadia added: "Leah was about three to four foot away from me, she had gone under and as she was coming up I heard this yell or scream and I saw the fling of the arm and it was almost completely gone.
"There was so much blood in the water right next to me and in that instant I knew it's a shark attack, I mean I didn't expect it but I've seen documentaries before we've seen encounters, I knew you know."
According to the International Shark Attack File, bull sharks are historically responsible for at least 100 unprovoked attacks on humans around the world. Of those, 27 are understood to have been fatal.
The Florida Museum said: "It's large size, proclivity for freshwater, abundance and proximity to human populations, particularly in the tropics, makes it more of a potential threat than is either the White shark or the Tiger shark."
Florida has regularly topped global charts for the number of shark bites. In 2024, 14 cases, none of which were fatal, were recorded in the state.
