A 13-year-old Florida teen survived multiple bites from a bull shark May 11 while enjoying the ocean with friends off the coast of North Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County.
Ella Reed remained cool, calm and collected, her mother Devin Reed told WPTV News, despite sustaining multiple bites from what is believed to have been a 4-foot bull shark.
“It went straight to me and got my stomach first, and I tried blocking it with my arm and my hand and it kind of slipped in and got my finger and my arm and it swooped around and got my leg again,” Ella recalled to the outlet. “It didn’t really hurt at first because of all the adrenaline … We were so shocked.”
13-year-old girl survives bull shark attack, family says https://t.co/QW1MHA35RM
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After the attack, Ella managed to get out of the water where a friend drove her home on a golf cart to her stunned parents. “First, initially I seriously thought it was a prank,” Reed told WPTV. Growing up in the quiet North Hutchinson Island community, Ella has spent a lot of time surfing and swimming in the ocean near their home, but her mother said never “in a million years” did she ever think one of her children would fall victim to a shark attack.
“They swim, go surfing. They know how to stay away from bait balls and stuff like that. The whole thing is surreal. It sounds like a movie. It doesn’t feel real, not yet,” Reed told the outlet. (RELATED: Harrowing Video Shows Tiger Shark Slamming Into Kayak In Hawaii)
After reality came crashing down on Ella’s parents, the teen was rushed to the nearby St. Lucie County Fire District Station for immediate attention. Officials there then transported her to a local hospital, the outlet reported.
“There was blood everywhere and she was more of a trooper than anyone else. We were all just shocked that it even happened. She was so calm even when we got in the hospital. She was telling all the nurses, ‘You can take pictures.’ She was like a pro,” Reed said. “Pretty scary stuff, but thankfully she’s there talking to you and once you can see she’s OK then you calm down a bit,” she told WPTV.
Despite the attack, Ella is determined to get back in the water as soon as her stitches come out, the outlet stated.