A teen who lost limbs as a result of a shark attack has recalled the last thing she heard before the horrifying incident unfolded.
We’ve all seen the film, we’ve likely all had the resulting nightmares, and we’ve likely all found ourselves, at one time or another, treading water in the sea and wondering what might be lurking under the surface.
The truth of the matter, despite the wild success – and resulting widespread fear – of Jaws, is that shark attacks on humans are exceedingly rare. Some statistics claim that fewer than 100 recorded attacks occur each year worldwide, while there were just four fatal unprovoked shark attacks across the globe in 2024, according to the International Shark Attack File.
That said, there is a risk, no matter how minute, if you find yourself paddling in shark-infested waters. Sharks are an apex predator, after all, and it’s an unfortunate inevitability that every now and then those larger species of shark see humans in the same way they see virtually anything else they might encounter at sea: as prey.
Twin sisters Ellie and Lulu Gribbin know this as well as anyone. Likely better, in fact, as they’ve witnessed the terrifying eventuality first hand.
The 15-year-old twins were vacationing with their family in Florida in June, 2024, when they swam out to sea to collect sand dollars, a species of burrowing sea urchins.
Having ventured out from the shore, they were cast into a true nightmare scenario when they spotted a shark.
Speaking to ABC last year, Ellie recalled how the sisters began “swimming for our lives”. When she reached the shore, Ellie saw blood in the sea.
“The entire ocean is red, ocean waves bring the blood closer,” she said.
Her sister Lulu had her left hand bitten off by the shark. Doctors were also later forced to amputate her right leg “halfway up from her knee to her hip”.
In a new interview with Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan, Lulu has described the last thing she heard prior to being attacked.
“I just saw a shadow, but I never saw a tail or a fin. I never saw its eyes.”
Lulu recalled pulling her arm out of the water seconds later, only to find “there was no hand there”.
“I just remember being like, ‘Whoa.’ I looked down and I was like, ‘This is really happening,’” Lulu explained.
When Lulu returned to shore, her twin sister played a crucial role in keeping her calm until emergency services could respond to the scene.
“I just knew, kind of what she needed and what she needed to hear at the time. Because there was so much going on, so much commotion,” Ellie said.
“I just had to be there for her.”
Lulu was hospitalized for two months after the haunting incident, undergoing multiple surgeries as a result of her extensive injuries. Now having learned how to run again, she’s set her sights on the Paralympics.
The teen said: “I think knowing that I have a large support system behind me, and just continuing to get better, not only for myself, but for them, and just show them that anything is possible.”
