Addison Bethea was about to begin her senior yr of highschool when an aggressive 9-foot shark bit her proper leg in June 2022.
She has recovered from practically shedding her life — and now she is getting ready to present start to her first baby.
“It’s loopy to be bringing a model new life into [the world] when mine was virtually gone,” Bethea, 18, instructed “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. “It’s form of loopy how that works.”
The northwest Floridian was scalloping at Keaton Seaside together with her brother, Rhett Willingham, when the shark grabbed her.
“It felt like somebody simply pulling you below water, like that scary sensation when somebody simply touches you within the water,” she recalled. “I didn’t really feel any ache or something all the time it bit me apart from after I tried to pry it off with my palms.”
Bethea misplaced her proper leg the summer season earlier than her senior yr of highschool.
After attempting to poke the shark’s eyes and punch its nostril, she screamed for assist.
Willingham, a firefighter and emergency medical technician, got here to her rescue.
“It’s virtually like if you’re in a dream, and also you’re attempting to scream in a dream, and it looks like nothing’s popping out. That’s what I felt like in that second, so I belted as loud as I may,” she continued.
Willingham finally freed his sister, who was airlifted to a Tallahassee hospital about 80 miles away.
Over the course of six surgical procedures, medical doctors reconstructed a lot of her thigh and amputated her proper leg above the knee.
She now has a prosthetic leg.
Due to the fast motion of her brother, Bethea survived the assault. Fb/Addison Bethea
After a speedy restoration, Bethea was capable of stroll at her college’s homecoming ceremony and attend her commencement. Fb/Shane Bethea
The previous cheerleader’s speedy restoration allowed her to attend courses in individual, take part within the annual homecoming celebration, and even stroll at her commencement in Could.
She stated she isn’t restricted from the actions she loves — she simply has to get inventive.
“I’m nonetheless doing the stuff I used to do, it’s simply little slower and it’s a studying course of, however I nonetheless do it my very own methods,” stated Bethea, who intends to pursue a level in bodily remedy.
On July 1, one yr after the assault, she returned to Keaton Seaside and the water with out worry.
“It didn’t make me unhappy or something,” she defined. “I didn’t get emotional. It was similar to [a] again to simply regular form of factor, hop again into routine.”
Bethea plans to pursue a profession in bodily remedy. CNN
“You possibly can’t simply be mad on the ocean if you’re in [sharks’] territory,” she stated. Fb/Shane Bethea
Wanting forward, Bethea plans to welcome her first baby in December on the identical hospital that handled her post-attack.
Her story has served as each an inspiration and a warning to others who dare trespass in shark-infested waters.
“You possibly can’t simply be mad on the ocean if you’re in [sharks’] territory,” she stated. “They know what they’re doing. They know what they wish to eat. You’ve simply bought to be conscious of that.”
