BOCA GRANDE, Fla. — A 9-year-old girl who survived a shark attack while snorkeling in Boca Grande is now recovering after surgery.
Leah Lendel's family says surgeons were able to repair her hand, restore blood flow and even get some finger movement back using pins and arteries from her leg.
However right now there is only movement in two fingers and she can’t feel the rest. The family says doctors will be doing another procedure tomorrow to see if there is anything else that needs to be done.
"The fact that Leah has all her fingers attached is already a testimony. From witnessing her wrist hanging on by just the skin, to have blood flow in all of her hand and fingers is truly a miracle." The family said in a statement.
The attack happened Wednesday while Leah was snorkeling in shallow water, nearly tearing her hand off.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on Leah Lendel's recovery from a shark attack:
"It was just blood only coming out of the hand," Raynel Lugo said.
Lugo was on his lunch break nearby when he helped pull the Lendel family out of the water. He immediately wrapped Leah's hand in a towel and waited for EMS. She was then airlifted to the hospital.
Despite comments calling Lugo’s actions heroic, he remained humble when speaking to Fox 4, instead giving credit to the first responders who arrived.
"The heroes are the fire department, the police, the sheriff’s office and the EMS,” said Lugo. “They're the real heroes, the doctors at the hospital too.”
Back at work the next day, Lugo shared that his own son is fighting leukemia, and he too is battling cancer. He says thinking of his own children drove him to help.
"I was close to losing my son,” said Lugo. ”So, when I saw Leah yesterday I was looking at my daughter - looking at my son and I was like there's no way you can lose your daughter because of a shark.”
Lugo said he cried when he heard Leah had made it out of surgery.
This is Boca Grande's first reported shark bite since 2019.
Gavin Naylor is Director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, he told Fox 4 that while shark attacks are rare, they can happen even in shallow water.
"People should know that sharks are not targeting humans,” said Naylor. “That said, just because you're in shallow water that you're completely immune from shark bites. It's not novel for sharks to bite people in shallow water.”
Naylor said while some witnesses thought it was a bull shark, that's not confirmed.
"The severity of the injury is consistent with a bull shark," Naylor said. "But I will say that a lot of these sharks look very very similar."
Read The Family's Full Statement Below:
We want to say Thank You to everyone that is praying for our sweet Leah. We are thankful for the quick response of everyone that was on scene, the construction workers, residents that ran out to help and the first responders and to all the Doctors/Nurses that are doing everything to help our girl. Yesterday Leah had an extensive surgery on her hand (wrist & fingers). The Doctors, were able to get blood flow to her hand and fingers. She is showing some movement in two fingers but can’t feel the rest. The doctors will be doing another procedure tomorrow to see if there is anything else that needs to be done. The fact that Leah has all her fingers attached is already a testimony. From witnessing her wrist hanging on by just the skin, to have blood flow in all of her hand and fingers is truly a miracle. Please keep praying for our family, our God is a miracle worker.
Fox 4 is following this story closely and will continue to publish updates.
Another Florida shark attack survivor recalls scary encounter:
