A shark attacked a 17-year-old girl on a Florida beach, but she survived because she fought back and her brother acted immediately.

A shark bit Addison Bethea when she was harvesting scallops on Keaton Beach, near Grassy Island. The ground was inundated with almost 5 feet of water.

“The next thing I knew, someone had grabbed my leg, and I thought, ‘That’s not right.'” “Then I looked, and there was a big old shark,” the child explained to Good Morning America.

Addison had watched on Animal Planet that if you are attacked by a shark, you should hit it in the nose, but the shark bit her so hard that she couldn’t reach the shark’s nose. Nonetheless, she resisted it and attempted to remove it with her bare hands.

When Addison’s brother, Rhett Willingham, noticed the blood, he went into the water to assist her.

He went on to say, “She came back up, and I saw blood and all, and I saw the shark.”

“So I swam over there, grabbed her, and pushed on her to try to push them all apart.” He simply kept coming. So I grabbed her, swam backward, kicked him, and called for assistance.”

Rhett, a 22-year-old Taylor County EMT and fireman, fought and kicked the shark relentlessly to get his sister out. He grabbed her and placed her in his boat once she was free.

When a neighboring boater noticed that they were in difficulty, he volunteered to assist, and Rhett loaded Addison onto his boat.

He then tied a 4-foot length of boat rope around her right upper thigh to halt the bleeding. Rhett requested an ambulance before returning to shore via boat.

Addison was seriously injured and had to be transported nearly 80 miles to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where she was first thought to be in critical condition.

She required immediate surgery and was put back together. It was unfortunate that her right leg had been so seriously injured.

According to Addison’s father, Shane, “the shark bit her right leg, and the front quadriceps muscle was destroyed.”

“It was horrifying; it was a terrible wound.” The vascular surgeon converted a vein from the left leg into an artery for the right leg.

Doctors do not want to amputate her leg below the hip. Surgeons will also attempt to preserve enough of her lower leg’s skin to allow for the attachment of devices.

“The most important thing is that she’s still alive!” Shane stated.

Addison is cheerful despite having recently been through a terrifying experience. Her friends also visited her in the ICU.

“When she awoke, she was typing on her phone to call us.” On Facebook, Shane stated, “She was in a good mood and making jokes about beating up the shark.”

Addison’s first request was a Frosty from Wendy’s.

The youngster is already scheduled for a second operation to determine the extent of the injury and what procedures may be performed to preserve her limb.

The sheriff’s office had no idea what kind of shark was attacking Addison, which was about 9 feet long.

They also warned anybody swimming or looking for scallops in the vicinity to be cautious.

According to the sheriff’s office, swimmers and scallopers should avoid sharks.

“Some rules to follow are: don’t swim alone, don’t get in the water near fishermen, stay away from places where sharks like to hang out, like sandbars, don’t swim near big schools of fish, and don’t move around erratically in the water.”

To assist with Addison’s hospital fees, send a check to Buckeye Community Federal Credit Union with “Addison Bethea” written on the memo line. The address is 1825 S. Jefferson St., Perry, FL 32348.

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