A Texas shark attack victim has shared a gruesome update after the predator ripped off a chunk of her leg.
Tabatha Sullivent was one of four people attacked by the same shark at South Padre Island on July 4th – including her husband.
Now, she’s sharing her harrowing journey to recovery from her hospital bed.
‘There are about four of us in the water. I had some teenagers with me. My daughter, 15, was with me as well. And all I saw was something gray in the water,’ Sullivent recalled to KSAT.
The horror unfolded when Sullivent spotted what she thought was a ‘huge fish’ in the water, which was in fact a killer shark.
Tabatha Sullivent sits in a hospital bed after her calf was bitten off by a bull shark. Her husband, who bravely fought off the beast, sits next to her
‘I thought, ‘Oh my God! It’s a huge fish.’ And it was coming at us, so I kicked at it, and that’s when I think it grabbed my leg,’ she added.
Her heroic husband fought the shark, and ended up getting bitten twice in the process.
Describing the pain after getting bit, she said, ‘It’s like I could feel numbness, I guess, is the best way to describe it.’
Despite the incident, Sullivent has remained positive.
‘I would say somebody, or something, was definitely looking over us,’ she told the outlet.
First responders quickly arrived on the scene to bring Sullivent to safety
Sullivent said her bite was ‘all the way to the bone.’
‘I’ve stayed positive throughout this ordeal. My family has been close by my side taking care of me while in the hospital. My friends have been amazing, taking care of the house and animals, getting meals ready for our return home. We have a great support group,’ she wrote.
Sullivent was in the water on South Padre Island with her daughter and husband when the shark began hunting them.
She said they were out past a sand bar when the shark followed her to shallow water and attacked her.
‘I turned around, and all I saw was something gray in the water. So, I just kicked at it, because I thought it was a huge fish, and it was coming at us. That’s when I think it grabbed my leg,’ Sullivent told CBS News Texas from her hospital bed.
The bull shark – a creature with one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom sank its teeth into her lower leg with no intention of letting go.
Due to the shark, officers deployed drones, boats and helicopters to locate the predator and the city was also considering closing the beach
The incident happened on South Padre Island, Texas, on Thursday morning and the woman had to be hauled to shore by a team of rescuers
Sullivent said her husband valiant fought off the beast, jumping into the water and grabbing her.
In the process, he was bitten twice as well.
Beachgoers pulled her out of the water, and first responders were soon on the scene tending to her gaping wound.
‘If my husband didn’t jump into action and everyone else on the beach, if I didn’t have people pulling me out – not just to pull me out but jumping between the shark and me – I don’t think it would’ve stopped,’ she said.
A total of four people encountered the shark in the water, according to initial reports. The Sullivents were bit and while two others escaped with minor injuries.
Tabatha was taken to a nearby hospital where she is in stable condition. Her husband Cary Sullivent (right) remains by her side
A dorsal fin can be seen swimming back and forth near the shoreline as the woman lays on the sand
Social media footage of the attack shows Sullivent laying on the sand while a dorsal fin can be seen swimming back and forth near the shoreline.
Blood from her wound can be seen turning the water a dark red, while first responders wrap a tourniquet around her leg.
‘My leg is pretty much gone,’ she told FOX Dallas-Fort Worth roughly a day after the attack.
‘They flushed it out today. It’s all the way to the bone. It did not go through the bone.’
Sullivent will need multiple reconstructive surgeries, but doctors are optimistic that she’ll be able to keep her leg and walk again.
