She Barely Survived A Shark Attack And Now She’s Hoping To Implement An Alert System To Protect Other Beachgoers
Last year, a teen from Alabama narrowly survived a shark attack, and now, she’s hoping to implement an alert system to protect other beachgoers.
On June 7, 2024, Lulu Gribbin, who is now 16 years old, was one of three people bitten by a shark that day. She lost her left hand and part of her leg. The string of attacks took place off the Florida Panhandle.
Recently, she asked Alabama lawmakers to support a bill by Republican Rep. David Faulkner. It would establish a shark attack alert system that would notify the public of any unprovoked shark attacks in the area. It is similar to the Amber alert system.
“Ninety minutes before me, there was another shark attack a couple miles down the coast,” said Gribbin. “This bill will help prevent future attacks and accidents.”
If she had known about the earlier attack, she and her friend would not have gone into the water that fateful day. Before they were attacked, they had been diving for sand dollars.
They were floating on the waves back to the beach when Gribbin’s friend screamed out that there was a shark nearby. They started swimming faster, and then the shark attacked them.
“My hand was bitten first. I remember just lifting it out of the water, and I was stunned because there was no hand there. I couldn’t feel it because of all the shock I was in. Then, the shark latched onto my leg,” Gribbin recalled.
A man pulled her out of the water as she blacked out. She came to on the shore, where a doctor and other medical workers who happened to be on the beach, worked quickly to save her.
According to Gavin Naylor, the director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program, sharks are common in the waters off Florida and Alabama.
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However, shark attacks are rare. Each year, there are between 50 and 90 unprovoked bites around the world. Three attacks in a single day within close range of each other is pretty much unheard of.
That day, weather conditions seemed to have brought smaller fish closer to shore, which drew in the sharks.
The Alabama House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee advanced the bill and now it has moved on to the Alabama House of Representatives.
The alert system would only apply to the Alabama coast, but hopefully, other states where shark attacks are a risk will follow in order to keep more people safe.
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