A lady has shared the story of how she fought off a shark assault whereas swimming in Florida.
Heather West has posted a sequence of viral TikTok movies exhibiting how her foot was ripped open by a lemon shark, which is usually thought-about one of many "least aggressive" shark species.
West wanted emergency remedy after the assault in late January, however informed TikTokers she felt she had "gained" towards the shark, which had made her "irate" by refusing to let go of her foot—till she punched it.
One of many clips, which has had greater than 9 million views, reveals her being wheeled on a stretcher along with her bloodied foot in a bag, then being positioned on a ship and a seaplane to Key West. Her newest replace was posted as a deadly shark assault was reported off the coast of Sydney, Australia.
West is a "vanlifer," touring the nation in a transformed Chevy Tahoe to go to all of the nationwide parks and a "good portion" of the state parks too. In January, she was in Florida, snorkeling at varied seashores.
On the day of the assault, she and a bunch of different vacationers determined to go to Dry Tortugas Nationwide Park. The 100-square-mile park is generally open water, with seven islands.
In response to West, the group headed to Loggerhead Key, one of many islands, on a dinghy, hoping to snorkel on the Little Africa reef. They could not make it to the reef due to tough water, so determined to go again to the opposite aspect of the island to "have a bit of swim."
By the pier, the group swam in single file. "I used to be primarily on the lookout for conch shells, we weren't very deep within the water," she mentioned.
"Since I used to be final in line, everybody was out of the water by the point the assault occurred," defined West. "I had this actually dangerous vibe and one thing in me mentioned, 'Get out'.
"I instantly turned and after I did, I felt one thing snatch my foot. My mind could not actually comprehend what was happening and I believed one of many guys had grabbed my foot making an attempt to scare me.
"We sat there for what appeared like some time. The shark wasn't shifting, I wasn't shifting, and I believed, 'Properly, that is getting a bit of awkward. How lengthy are you going to carry my foot for?' And as quickly as I believed that, he simply rips me and rips me beneath the water. Instantly when he began the american, I used to be like, 'Oh s*** this can be a shark'."
West mentioned that throughout the assault she recalled considering, "No, that is mine, you'll be able to't have it," and feeling "p***** off" on the shark for ripping her foot the second time. She added that she had felt "irate" and "just like the rattling Hulk," yelling "You motherf*****" on the shark.
@wildwitchofthew3st @TikTok please don’t take this down. The whole lot is roofed! #LaysGoldenDuet#sharkattack#shark#sharkweek#lemonshark#vanlifediaries#baddie#11
♬ authentic sound - Heather West
After the second rip, West mentioned she started punching the shark along with her fists, inflicting it to let go of her foot.
"As quickly as I get on the seaside, I look down and see that my foot remains to be there so I get actually excited and began screaming and was like 'I gained, I gained, I gained'," she mentioned.
When her companions requested what she meant, she replied: "'It is nonetheless there.' I knew it was the battle for the foot and considered one of us was going to win, and considered one of us was going to lose, and I actually did not anticipate that I used to be going to be the winner of this so I used to be fairly rattling glad."
The shark had reportedly been noticed days earlier by folks engaged on the important thing, who had seen it attacking a pelican.
West was helped by staff on the island after which picked up by park rangers. A seat was accessible on a seaplane about to go away for Key West, the place she obtained medical remedy.
West thought-about flying to Miami instantly to seek the advice of a plastic surgeon, but it surely was determined as an alternative that medics ought to "go forward and shoot me up filled with [painkiller] Dilaudid, and rapidly form of fold my meat again over and throw 20 stitches in there."
She is now experiencing points along with her ligaments and tendons, she mentioned, and is being handled by a plastic surgeon she discovered after her movies went viral.
In Florida, lemon sharks make up simply 3 p.c of recorded shark assaults. In response to Florida Museum's Worldwide Shark Assault File, there have been solely 10 earlier unprovoked assaults by lemon sharks, all in Florida and the Caribbean. A lot of her movies are posted with the hashtag #number11.
Newsweek has contacted West and the Florida Museum for remark.
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