Annabelle Carlson had been scuba diving on a family holiday when she was ripped apart by two sharks, with the odds of such an unimaginable encounter being one in 11.5 million
A brave teenager has relived the horror moment she was attacked by two sharks on a family holiday. Annabelle Carlson had been scuba diving off the coast of Belize when the terrifying encounter happened.
The 16-year-old from Colorado landed half a dozen punches on the first shark before the second beast sank its teeth into her leg. She was plucked from the water and flown to hospital where she had to have her right leg amputated. Experts said the chances of such an encounter was one in 11.5 million.
Speaking to NewsNation about the incident which happened last year, Annabelle said: “We had just finished a dive…me and my siblings were jumping off the top storey of the boat. I was the one to go first and the second I hit the water, a shark came from under the boat and started biting my hands.
“I threw a few punches at it because at first I didn’t really know what was going on…it was around 6ft. It was a reef shark. I didn’t really know what to do but my first instinct was to punch it because I had noone else in the water to save me.”
She added: “A lot of people on the boat were starting to shout and yell. When this was happening, they threw a ring for me in the water and I looped it with my arm because my hands were pretty damaged.
“They started to pull me in and that’s when the second shark attacked. It bit me in my right leg just below my knee. They pulled me up on the boat and that’s when I realised the extent of my injuries. I looked down and my leg was pretty much gone. It was kind of just bone from right below my knee to my ankle.
“That’s when I realised the severity of the situation and that we had to get help fast.”
Annabelle was flown to hospital and had her leg amputated but soon afterwards, she developed a rare infection.
However, once she recovered, she was able to poke fun at her own situation by dressing up for Halloween as a shark attack victim with fake blood on her stump, alongside her friend who was dressed as a shark.
She explained: “I feel like it’s best to see the positive side of things.”
Asked if she’s going to go scuba diving again, she replied: “Yes, I’ve already been for Spring Break.”
After Annabelle’s television interview aired last week, many viewers rushed to have their say.
One wrote: “What a wonderful young lady. Annabelle is going to go very far in life.”
Another added: “What a great sense of humor! And such a wonderful positive outlook! Beautiful!”
While one said: “OMG, her Halloween costume!!! Only 16 but what an amazing attitude!! There’s no way I’d ever be as positive as her if I were her. Wow!!”
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