According to the Daily Mail on July 18, local time, an American girl named Addison Bethea was finally discharged from the hospital on crutches with the permission of the doctor, and she who could have run and jumped had to face a life of almost losing her entire right leg from now on.
But Addison, 17, is still brave, and she said in an interview that she will continue to swim in the sea after the wounds on her leg are healed, even though her right leg was lost due to the encounter with the "beast of the sea".
On his last day in June, Addison fished for scallops at Keaton Beach near Grassey Island in Taylor County, Florida. She swam to a position about a mile from the fishing boat when she suddenly felt something grab her leg.
According to Addison's father, Shane, the daughter at first thought that her brother was messing with her, but when she looked back, she was bitten by a shark, and she began to scream in fear and see that the sea was full of blood.
A 9-foot-long shark is said to have torn Addison's right leg apart, and thanks to her half-brother Rhett Willingham, 22, was working in nearby waters at the time. Hearing his sister's cry, he swam quickly and kept hitting the shark with his fist, trying to get it to leave his sister.
Fortunately, Red's blow worked, the shark let addison go and swam away, while Red boarded the nearest stranger's ship with his sister and used a tourniquet to help stop the bleeding, while also making a call for help, and a helicopter transported Addison to the hospital.
Although Addison's life was saved after her brother's hard work, she had to undergo amputation because the bite was so severe that her right leg had to be amputated from above her knee, "which was devastating," said Addison's father, Shane.
But Shane also praised her daughter, saying she acted quite calmly, like a soldier. After 3 hours of surgery, much of Addison's right leg was lost, which meant that in the future she would need the help of a prosthesis to walk on her own.
According to her surgeon general, Addison needs up to 3 to 6 months of recovery before fitting the custom prosthesis before training on how to use the prosthesis, and her psychological recovery is also crucial.
But judging by Addison's performance so far, she is in a good state, "she is running around in a wheelchair, and her brother is pushing her around," said Shane, a father. But the sad dad also admitted that his daughter's mood fluctuated and "she was sometimes miserable."
Addison, who grew up in the accident area, like nearby residents, often went to the sea to play and often went to the sea to catch scallops, but this time he was attacked by sharks. She was very fortunate that her life was saved, and she was also grateful to her brother Red, "If it weren't for Red, I might be in the funeral home now."
Addison was a high school cheerleader and a tennis player and swimmer, enough to see how hard the loss of a leg hit her.
But Addison also showed maturity beyond his peers, saying, "There are so many unknowns in life, and you have to overcome these accidents."