A 19-year-old lady was attacked by a shark final month whereas on trip along with her household in Galveston, Texas.
Damiana Humphrey and her siblings have been waist-deep within the water when her sister-in-law stated she noticed one thing tan shifting within the waves.
In keeping with Humphrey, she rotated and ‘a shark grabbed ahold of my hand.’
‘I appeared down and there was a shark connected to my hand, so I suppose I began punching it. That half is form of blurry to me,’ she recounted.
She stated the shark, which was about 4 or 5 toes lengthy, then let go and swam off as she ran out of the water along with her siblings.
Damiana Humphrey, 19, is escorted out of the ocean after a shark bit her hand. The bloody wound is seen as her household name emergency companies
Her household noticed the intense chew and understood the urgency of the state of affairs. They referred to as 911 and first responders arrived to move Damiana to the hospital the place she instantly underwent surgical procedure on her hand.
The shark severed 4 tendons, and although she is predicted to make a full restoration, she will not be capable to use her hand for various weeks, which suggests she’s had to surrender her affected person care technician position this summer time.
Docs have suggested the teenager that ‘with bodily remedy,’ she’s going to make a full restoration.
‘Truthfully, I am simply glad it wasn’t as dangerous because it might have been,’ she stated, including that she can also be relieved her siblings weren’t bitten.
The world’s Seashore Patrol Chief, Peter Davis, instructed Fox26 Houston that regardless of Humphrey’s haunting expertise, ‘it is actually uncommon for us to have shark bites right here in Galveston.’
‘I’ve labored a couple of of them in my profession and those I’ve seen have been shark bites, not assaults. Which means it was a case of mistaken identification the place they latched onto a human and swam away it seems like this will likely have been just like that,’ he stated.
The outlet stories {that a} common lack of shark chew victims doesn’t imply there aren’t a big variety of sharks off the Texas shore.
Sportfish Heart scientist at Texas A&M College, Dr. Kesley Banks stated there are a handful of shark species within the West Bay area that exist in numbers.
‘Particularly off Texas, the commonest species are black suggestions, spinner sharks, bull sharks. Across the summer time we see hammerheads and tiger sharks. They’re all the time there,’ she stated.
Humphrey had been at a Galveston seashore along with her household on trip from Oklahoma, the place they dwell, when the shark attacked her in shallow waters
The 19-year-old required speedy surgical procedure on the wound, which severed 4 of the tendons in her hand
Docs say she is predicted to make a full restoration with bodily remedy
Black tip and spinner sharks generally tackle a tan-ish coloration, making it doubtless that it was a type of two sorts that bit Damiana. Pictured right here: a black tip shark
Humphrey has maintained a optimistic angle following the encounter, however shall be largely out of fee for the summer time months
Black tip and spinner sharks generally tackle a tan-ish coloration, making it doubtless that it was a type of two sorts that bit Damiana.
Banks stated that shark encounter numbers are inclined to rise in the summertime due to the elevated variety of folks within the water.
Consultants advise that so as to stop a shark assault, folks can make use of a couple of suggestions, which embrace: shuffling your toes when strolling within the ocean, and avoiding intersections between the ocean and different our bodies of water – like rivers, as a result of there are normally a number of fish upon which sharks prey in these areas.
Individuals also needs to keep away from swimming round or close to a faculty of fish, going into the water if bleeding, and if a shark does chew you, battle it off.
Humphrey did the precise proper factor when she punched her attacker. Touchdown a fist on a shark’s nostril or gills might immediate it to detach.
