Mountain Brook teenager loses hand and leg in shark attack: “I did it”

The mother of Lulu Gribbin, the Mountain Brook teenager who lost a hand and leg in a shark attack on a Florida beach on Friday, released an update on her daughter’s condition and details of the dramatic incident on Sunday.

Lulu Gribbin was one of two Mountain Brook teens attacked in the incident. One of the teens suffered minor injuries, according to earlier reports. Another woman was also attacked in a separate incident.

The teenagers were identified as Lulu Gribbin and McCray Faust by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which held a vigil Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, authorities in Walton County, Florida, are patrolling the coast and urging beachgoers to be cautious in the water following the attack.

Gribbin’s mother, Ann Blair Gribbin, shared details of the attack and her daughter’s condition on the Caring Bridge website on Sunday:

“I wanted to share Lulu Gribbin’s story so everyone can continue to pray for our sweet and beautiful child. Lulu, her twin sister Ellie and I drove to the beach from Birmingham on Wednesday June 5th with some of their friends and their mothers. It was our first mother-daughter beach trip and we were all incredibly excited. Our first two days at the beach were amazing, hanging out with friends and going out to eat.

On Friday we decided to go down for lunch from where we were staying right in front of Rosemary Beach. After lunch we went back to the beach to the girls and everyone was standing on the beach looking in the water. No one was in the water and we just heard there was a shark and we started looking too. My friend called her two daughters and they didn’t answer so she panicked and said something was wrong and ran and we all did.

The beach was full of people just watching. I came across a group of people surrounding someone on the ground and looked down and there was Lulu. Ellie found me and said, “Mom, that’s Lulu.” I saw her wounds on her leg and started screaming. She was lifeless, her eyes were closed, her mouth was white and pale. The wound on her leg, or whatever was left of her leg, looked like something out of a movie. I finally made it back to her and held her hand and she saw me and I told her I was there. Her eyes were open. I had no idea how long she had been laying there or what had happened. Almost immediately the beach truck was there and the EMTs loaded her onto a board, put her back in the truck and rolled her away, she was airlifted away. One of my friends immediately took Ellie and I home and into the car. We were told she was going somewhere and then we finally got the answer that she was going to Sacred Heart in Pensacola. It was an hour and 20 minute drive. We prayed the whole way. My friend who was driving was a gift from God to Ellie and me and knew exactly what to pray. All I could do was keep saying please stay alive, please breathe. No one we called could give us any information.

We got to Sacred Heart and Lulu was already in surgery, but they answered my prayer that she was alive and her vitals were fine. Joe met me there and we waited for the surgeons to speak to us. When they arrived, we were informed that the shark had bitten off Lulu’s left hand and that they had to amputate her right leg halfway from the knee to the hip. She had also lost 2/3 of her blood. Of course, no one wants that for their child, but she is alive. They also told us that Lulu might be intubated for the next week or so and would need 4-5 surgeries to complete her amputations.

Yesterday, Saturday, Lulu did not have surgery as we had expected and her vital signs were exactly as the doctors and nurses wanted. She survived so well that they finally removed the tube from her throat and she was breathing on her own. That was a big first step. When she had calmed down, her first words to us were:I did it.” And she really did.

Lulu relived the story of what happened that day on the beach. On the first sandbar, about waist high, six friends were standing looking for sand dollars. Probably like the hundreds of other people in the water that day. I’m not sure who noticed the shark first, but Lulu said it bit her hand and then her leg and then reached out to her other friend and caught her foot. Lulu said a man grabbed her other arm and pulled her out and another younger boy helped him carry her to shore. Once on shore there were two doctors and two other young women, one of them a nurse, all surrounding Lulu. These individuals applied tourniquets to Lulu’s wounds. This was critical, in my opinion, to saving Lulu’s life. She was then picked up by beach truck and airlifted to Sacred Heart in Pensacola, where we are now.

I am eternally grateful to the three surgeons and all the nursing staff and doctors here at this hospital who saved Lulu. I am grateful to the doctors and nurses that day on the beach. I am grateful to the paramedics on the beach and the crew in the air. I am grateful to the man who pulled her out of the water. We will have several surgeries in the coming days and our lives will be changed forever. Lulu is strong, beautiful, brave and so much more that I cannot even list. God has a plan for her and we will be here to support her in any way we can.

We are thankful for the love and support we have received. All the text messages, videos, Instagrams, Facebook posts, calls, etc. have all lifted us up. Please continue to pray for Lulu. Pray that she has the strength to get through whatever comes her way. Pray that her healing is quick and the pain is minimal. She is afraid of not belonging and that people will make fun of her. I need prayers for everyone to understand and show her grace. I also need prayers for Lulu to know that her hand and leg do not define who she is. Please pray for Joe and I to give her strength and be the rock she needs. Pray that we have the right words to lift her up and encourage her. I also want to pray for all the girls that were with her at the beach and the trauma they endured. Sweet Lulu is more worried about her friends than herself which is a testament to her character.

I know this was a terrible accident, but God was there and had the people there to save her life. Lulu said she felt God in the back of the beach truck. She is truly a miracle. We have a long way to go and our journey is just beginning!”