Louisville nurse plays crucial role in saving Florida shark attack victim

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – This is the ultimate story about being in the right place at the right time.

Three people were attacked by sharks on the Gulf Coast of the Florida Panhandle on Friday, June 7, including 15-year-old Lulu Gribbin.

The attack in Florida left Gribbin in critical condition, but Louisville native Cathy Dougherty happened to be on vacation with her family at the time and is just one of the many heroines who responded to Gribbin’s aid.

Dougherty says her vacation with her family in Seacrest Beach was going exactly as planned and they were having fun on the beach when a scene from a movie unfolded before their eyes.

“We saw a lot of people running from the beach yelling ‘shark, shark,'” Dougherty explained. “Then we looked over and saw that the water was red. We knew immediately that something really bad had happened.”

A shark had bitten off Gribbin’s hand and severed his leg.

A man and a boy pulled her from the shark’s grasp and brought her to shore. Fortunately, she had everyone she could need to help her, including Dougherty, a trained nurse with 20 years of experience.

“We were very fortunate to have a doctor, a nurse, an EMT, another doctor and myself there to receive her,” Dougherty said.

The group immediately got to work.

The doctors and paramedics tended to Lulu’s hand and leg while Dougherty focused on her carotid artery and placed her hand on Lulu’s chest to prepare her for CPR.

Dougherty’s daughter Amy Herby and daughter-in-law Nicole Dougherty are both medical professionals and helped pull people out of the water and provide resources to those working on Lulu.

But it was Dougherty’s husband’s quick response that really made the difference.

“We brought down a chair with a ratchet strap attached to it. Then my husband, Papa Joe – my grandchildren call him Papa Joe – went to the chair, got the ratchet strap and gave it to the paramedic who put the tourniquet on him,” Dougherty said.

The whole ordeal lasted only a few minutes, but the uncertainty that followed seemed to last forever, according to Dougherty.

After numerous operations, Lulu lost her left hand and her right leg had to be amputated between the hip and knee.

Dougherty has been following her recovery online and says she is grateful to have played a small part in what is being described as the Seacrest Beach miracle.

“The girl herself is just very encouraging and very strong. When you read her story and everything about her survival, you know she made it. That was the most important thing, she made it,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty says she feels forever connected to the Gribbin family and even shared that Lulu has a grandfather whom she affectionately calls Papa Joe.

If you would like to follow Lulu Gibbins’ recovery, you can do so by visiting her family’s blog here.

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