9-year-old girl has 'miracle' surgery at Florida hospital after shark bite

Riya Sharma, Tampa Bay Times on Jun 14, 2025

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TAMPA, Fla. — A 9-year-old girl whose hand was nearly severed in a shark bite is now able to move all her fingers, according to a social media post from her family.

The girl, Leah Lendel, was snorkeling off the coast of Boca Grande on Wednesday when the incident occurred, her family shared online. Boca Grande Fire Chief C.W. Blosser told The Tampa Bay Times that Leah was pulled from the water by bystanders and carried to a nearby road parallel to the beach.

Blosser said emergency responders from Lee County Emergency Medical Services and the Boca Grande Fire Department arranged for air transport within ten minutes of arriving at the scene.

Leah was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, the region’s only Level I trauma center.

According to updates shared on Instagram and in a public statement from the family, the shark bite left Leah’s wrist “hanging on by just the skin.” Her mother, Nadia Lendel, wrote that surgeons inserted pins to stabilize her broken bones and transferred arteries from her leg to help restore blood flow to her hand.

“She thought she would lose her hand for good,” her mother posted.

Leah underwent a lengthy surgery on Wednesday, according to the statement from her family. By the next morning, doctors restored movement in two of Leah’s fingers, though the rest of her hand remained numb, the statement said.

Leahl’s mother shared another update on social media Friday morning, saying that Leah could move all her fingers and calling it a “miracle.” She added that doctors decided Leah did not need sedation and would change her cast to monitor the healing process.

Blosser said shark bites are uncommon in the waters by Boca Grande, about 100 miles south of Tampa on Gasparilla Island. The last reported shark bite in the area occurred about five years ago, when a man was bitten after falling from a boat, he said.

He said the risk can rise during tarpon season, when game fish draw sharks closer to shore. There’s always some risk in Gulf waters, he said. “But this is a very isolated incident.”