Ella Reed: 13-yr-old Florida girl sustains multiple injuries as she battles bull shark TWICE in shallow water attack
Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised
BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: While sitting in shallow water with her friends at Fort Lauderdale Beach, a 13-year-old girl from Florida had to fight off a shark not once, but twice. Ella Reed was attacked by a six-foot-long bull shark and sustained multiple injuries.
Ella was sitting with her friends in clear, shallow water when the shark struck her. She fought it off, but the shark returned a few moments later and attacked her again. Ella was able to escape the shark's clutches and swim back to shore.
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'It was hitting my stomach really hard'
“The shark itself was so powerful. That was what I felt the most because it was hitting my stomach really hard,” Reed told Local10. Before Reed realized a shark had attacked her, she felt a sharp pain on her side. The shark bolted when she punched it at first, but after swimming away, it turned right back to her.
“It wouldn’t leave me alone, so I had to use my arm and use my hand too, so it got my arm and my finger," Reed told the outlet. Following the second attack, she immediately called her mother and brother for help. Her mother who wasn't named was shocked as she saw the shark swimming around her.
'She was totally covered in blood'
“It was insane because she was totally covered in blood pretty much from head to toe so she couldn’t really see what went on,” said Reed’s mother. Although "shaking" she was "calm" as per her mother. In the attack, Reed received injuries in her stomach, arm, finger, and the top of her knee. She received around 19 stitches too.
'It was clear water so you never really know when it’s going to happen'
Reed described the events post-attack stating she didn't feel any pain but was in shock. The 13-year-old shared that she hasn't been afraid of the Ocean ever and even after the horrific incident she plans to get right back into the water. “I was kinda in shock about everything that happened, so I wasn’t really in pain because the adrenaline was through the roof,” she said.“It was clear water so you never really know when it’s going to happen,” the teen told the station. Reed says she was bitten by a 5 to 6-foot-long bull shark and is recovering at home. Reed is proud of her scars because she knows it could have been a lot worse.
