Nicolette Raleigh, 15, was bitten on the right calf in two foot of water by an eight-foot grey shark. She was standing in the water off Big Beach, Maui, Hawaii on 27 February with her boyfriend Shane Wilds. They were celebrating his 17th birthday. Shane was knocked down by the shark as it came in for the attack and latched on to Nicolette’s leg.
Media report that another friend, Jessy Larson, pulled her to safety and Nicolette was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where surgery was performed to fix a 10-inch long gash on her calf.
"I just started screaming. I was like, 'Get him off me.' Then I kicked him with my foot," Raleigh told reporters.
"Everything got pretty messed up. My muscles are all torn and everything, but I got really lucky, because the only thing that happened was I'm missing part of my nerve."
She said: "We kind of joked about it 15 minutes before [going in the water], like, 'Don't get bitten by a shark!' And we're like, 'Yeah, yeah.' "
"And then, lucky me!"
Sources:
CBS News
