One woman candidly recounted the horrific experience of being attacked by a shark – “hitting” the predator in the face to escape.
Heather West, 35, from Montgomery, Texas, shared her shocking story in a series of viral Tic Toc videos, whose first clip was watched more than 16 million times.
He visited Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida in January with a few adventurers, but the trip ended in chaos when they decided to venture into the water.
Heather West, 35, from Montgomery, Texas, recounted her recent shark attack in a series of viral stories on TikTok and said she felt like she was in the movie Jaws.
West admitted that he thought he lost a leg after the 6-metre shark caught its fin in the water.
While his friends lingered on the nearby beach, West was navigating the ocean when he suddenly “feels in danger.” Minutes later, he was in the shark’s claws.
“A voice in my head said, ‘Go now,'” West told Jam Press. “As I looked down at the beach, I felt something grab my wrist.
“Seconds before I saw all the guys on the beach, my brain still couldn’t understand what was going on and I thought one of them had grabbed me to scare me.
“I remember thinking about how strong they were. I felt like my wrist was in a vise and it was so strong… I just sat there waiting for him to let go”.
West then felt a “huge jolt” in his leg and realized it was a shark attacking him.
The attack occurred in January while visiting Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida with some adventurers.
West said at first he thought one of his friends had grabbed him, but then he felt a “giant pull” on his leg and realized it was a shark attacking him.
West started kicking the shark, but its fins got in the way. He was released only when he punched the predator in the face, and his friends managed to drag him to safety.
“I knew I was alone as he dragged me through the water, and if I had a chance to survive, I had to react,” he recalls.
“Turned on my back, my leg still in the opposite direction, and I started kicking him in the face with my good leg.”
West reveals he has fins and ‘no propulsion’ [she] had to punch him in the face”.
“I got so angry that I used him as leverage and said, ‘Bastard!’ I cried and sat in the water. While I was throwing him into the water with both hands, he decided to go.”
When he was freed, West thought he had lost his foot and shouted to his friends for help while bracing himself for the possibility of being attacked again.
West remembered how he grabbed her foot and said, “I looked down and saw that he was still trapped and said, ‘I can’t believe I won!’ she started shouting.
After identifying the predator, two locals identified it as a 6-metre lemon shark that hovered in the air for a long time and attacked the birds.
West flew to a nearby island before being put on a charter plane to Lower Keys Medical Center on Stock Island, Florida.
“The water was filled with blood and I couldn’t see where it was going,” he said. “I felt like I was in a Jaws movie back then.”
West’s friends eventually dragged him by the arms to the beach, and one put on a tourniquet and put pressure on the wound on his foot while another tried to call for help.
Meanwhile, adrenaline and shock began.
“At that point, I still thought my foot was gone,” he said. “I looked down and saw it was still stuck and was like, ‘I can’t believe I won!’ I started shouting.
‘I was very happy after that. I felt so grateful that I was still alive,” she said. “I was never angry or never cried. ‘Wow, that was a crazy ride!’ I kept saying.
After identifying the predator, two locals identified it as a 6-foot-long lemon shark that had long circled and attacked birds.
West said it took three and a half hours to get help after being told that the staff were too busy to treat him.
West said he started cleaning the wound on his own and it was extremely painful.
West was later seen by a doctor who checked the wound and said he would be back later.
West flew to a nearby island before being put on a charter plane to Lower Keys Medical Center on Stock Island, Florida.
A group of paramedics were waiting for him on arrival, but West said it took three and a half hours to get help.
He also claimed that he was told that the staff was “too busy”, which led to his self-treatment.
“I went back to bed and slowly started removing the bandages and cleaning the area around the wound,” she said. †
At that point I had still not taken anything for the pain and the process was very painful.’
“When I looked at my foot, it was obvious that my tendons were torn, if not cut, and my ankle ligaments were torn,” he said.
West said he had 18 stitches and was sent home, and his treatment at the hospital was worse than a shark attack.
West’s foot swelled up and turned black and blue as he began to recover from the attack.
West was later seen by a doctor who checked the wound and said he would come back later. In the end, he scored 18 points.
However, he said that he was not satisfied with the treatment he received at the hospital and that he was discharged even though he needed medical attention.
“When I looked at my foot, it was obvious that my tendons were torn, if not cut, and my ankle ligaments were torn,” he said.
†[In my opinion], nobody cared. What they did to me was really the most traumatic part of the day, worse than the actual assault.”
West said he sustained permanent damage to his foot, but despite the horrific ordeal, he was back in the water just four weeks after the attack.
The shark’s teeth left visible marks on the back of his injured foot
West claimed permanent damage to his right foot
But despite the terrible ordeal, he was back in the water just four weeks after the attack.
DailyMail.com reached out to Lower Keys Medical Center for comment.
Thousands of TikTok users commented on West’s videos, and many were impressed by his incredible story.
One person wrote “HOW TO WATCH AT THE FIRST CLIP” while another added, “Dude, you’re so lucky, someone was watching you.”
“Blood compatible nail polish—fantasy,” another joked.
One viewer even admitted to being a little jealous, saying, “This is the kind of shark attack I want to tell, there are enough stories to tell, but I’m comfortable on the big screen.”
Source: Daily Mail
