Men step in to help girls | Shark attacks in Florida

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. – A beautiful beach day took a horrific turn on 30A after three people were attacked by sharks last week.

While a 45-year-old woman and two teenagers are both recovering in hospital on Monday, many people say they only survived thanks to the quick actions of three men on the beach that day, who also rescued a young girl who was being attacked.

Ann Blair Gribbin, the mother of one of the girls injured in the attack, posted on CaringBridge.org expressing her gratitude for the bravery and courage of the people who came to help during the panic.

“I am eternally grateful to the three surgeons and all the nursing staff and doctors here at this hospital who saved Lulu. I am eternally grateful to the doctors and nurses that day on the beach,” said Ann Blair Gribbin.

The mother described the moment when her daughter was pulled from the sea and when passers-by intervened.

“These individuals applied tourniquets to Lulu’s wounds, which I believe was critical in saving Lulu’s life. She was then picked up by beach truck and flown by helicopter to Sacred Heart in Pensacola, where we are now,” Gribbin wrote in the post.

Officials and lifeguards responded to Watersound Beach on State Road 30A near Rosemary Beach last Friday after hearing multiple reports of a woman injured in a shark attack around 1:20 p.m. According to fire officials, she had just swum past the first sandbar with her husband when they were attacked by a shark.

Matthew Lidle was at the beach with his family and saw blood in the water.

His wife Rachel said he ran into the waves and pulled out a young girl whose hand had been bitten by a shark.

According to first responders, the girl later lost her hand in the hospital, but probably only survived the attack because people on the beach reacted quickly and pulled her out of the water.

RELATED: Teen and woman seriously injured, 3 others hurt in shark attack at popular Florida Panhandle beach, deputies say

Two doctors were also on the beach that day and rushed to meet the attack.

Dr. Richard Forbess and Dr. Moh Ali of Orange Beach Family Medicine said they were also at the beach with family and friends when they heard people shouting “shark!”

Together with two nurses who were also on the beach, as well as the firefighters and paramedics who arrived at the scene of the accident, they immediately rushed to help stop the bleeding.

“We have multiple surgeries coming up in the next few days and our lives will be changed forever. Lulu is strong, beautiful, brave and so many other things I can’t even list. God has a plan for her and we will be here to support her in any way we can,” Gribbin wrote in her post.

You can read Gribbin’s full message online here.