A North Texas woman says she’s grateful to be alive after being attacked by a shark at South Padre Island on the 4th of July.
Tabatha Sullivent and her family were celebrating her daughter’s 15th birthday at the south Texas beach when their world turned upside down, according to a GoFundMe. The Celina woman said she lost her left calf in the attack.
“I swam up closer to the beach and was pulled in,” Sullivent wrote in the GoFundMe. “The shark was still in pursuit and Cary (my husband) hit the shark and kept it from having me for lunch probably. He also has a few sharks bites and was released yesterday.”
At least two other people were injured Thursday in shark attacks along South Padre Island. Officials believe one shark is responsible, Texas Game Warden Captain Chris Dowdy told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV.
The attacks occurred over a period of about two hours, WFAA reported. According to Dowdy, the shark then headed to open waters.
Tabatha Sullivent’s daughter Skylar Sullivent said in a public social media post that the family received an outpouring of love and assistance in the hours following the attack.
“We as a family have a very long road to recovery, but we are so hopeful,” Skylar Sullivent posted Friday afternoon. “She’s (Tabatha is) smiling and now eating some dinner! We are so thankful and blessed with the support from everyone.”
Sullivent can move her toes and has circulation in her foot, according to the GoFundMe. She’s undergone surgery for her injuries, and doctors are hopeful they can save her leg if infection doesn’t set in.
“I probably won’t have full mobility when I’m put back together and will not have the same leg I had before,” Sullivent wrote in the GoFundMe. “But, I’m alive.”
Money raised through the GoFundMe will help the Sullivent family with medical expenses.
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