Shark One woman’s leg was broken in what looked like a bear trap, and she tightened her hold on her leg when she felt a “body crawling” between her legs.
“I was shaking and kicking as hard as I could to get him off, but you don’t have that much power in the water,” Debbie Salamon told Fox News Digital. “As the shark tightened its grip, I started screaming, ‘He’s got me.'”
He was waist-deep in water and 50 feet off the Cape Canaveral National Seashore in FloridaBut she could not move.
She felt “bodies” collide with her feet and swarm around her. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my God. I’m going crazy for food,'” Salamon said.
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Debbie Salamon was a dancer and reporter in 2004 when a shark bite ruptured her Achilles tendon. (Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation/Facebook)
“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know if the shark is eating my leg. Everything feels the same. There’s a lot of pressure and pain,” Salamon said.
“There’s a lot of blood in the water, and now I’m struggling to get back to shore, but every step I take is getting more difficult” until the shark finally lets me go.
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Salamon’s Achilles tendon was completely severed, and the front of her foot was “twisted over” her leg. “And my heel was completely torn off,” she said.
Her partner at the time – this was in 2004 – grabbed her by the arms and pulled her to the shore, where she collapsed, blood flowing with the waves.
Debbie Salamon (third from left) is surrounded by other shark attack survivors who are advocating for sharks and advancing conservation efforts. (Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation/Pew)
A black-tip shark is seen swimming during a shark dive in Umkomaas near Durban, South Africa on December 10, 2020. (Michele Spatari/AFP via Getty Images)
Miraculously, one of the few survivors on the beach was a nurse, and she rushed to Salamone’s aid.
But the race against time was on. The approaching storm made the storm even more intense. Thunderstorms rumbled, lightning flashed in the sky and the sea waves pushed even further into the shore.
Salamone’s leg was “damaged” and she could not walk.
“We were crawling to the beach foot by foot,” Salamon said. “It took a while for rescuers to arrive.”
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First responders eventually reached her and took her off the beach and to the nearest hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery and remained in hospital for three days.
But the hospital was in the path of the hurricane, and “they were trying to get everybody out of the hospital as much as they could,” Salamone said.
Underwater view of a swimming shark. (iStock)
Debbie Salamon has championed shark conservation since a shark attack in 2004. (Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation/Facebook)
By the time he was discharged, the area was in a state of storm. People flocked to petrol pumps and everywhere, including doctors’ offices, was locked down.
Within days of returning home, she said she lost her strength. When she lifted her leg, she felt “hot and uncomfortable.”
Several hurricanes struck the Florida coast. And thus began her 18-month recovery.
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At the time, she was very passionate about ballroom dancing, and said she remembered looking at her sequin gown and high heels, and “thinking I’d never dance again,” Salamon said.
“I’ve always been passionate about nature, and I felt like this was really the biggest betrayal… I was upset and angry, and I really hated sharks. I hated nature.”
Debbie Salamon loved ballroom dancing and said she remembers losing her sequined gown and high-heeled shoes after the shark attack. “I remember thinking I’d never be able to dance again,” Salamon said, and that led to her hating sharks for years. (Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation/Pew)
From pain to power
Salamone’s life ended in a flash. She was standing at a crossroads.
She could wallow in pity and wallow in hatred, or face this challenge head on.
“If I can forgive the darkest side of something Sea If I wasn’t the truest, most heartfelt advocate for the environment and the ocean, wouldn’t I be the truest, most heartfelt advocate for the environment and the ocean?” Salamon remembered thinking that. “I decided, yeah, okay, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Florida has been named the shark attack capital of the world
Although dancing was her passion, at the time she was a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel. She took on the position of environmental editor and went back to school to obtain a master’s degree. Environmental Science and Policy.
Now, she’s one of the most ardent shark advocates and in 2009 started a group called Shark Attack Survivors for Shark Conservation, which unites other shark survivors around the world to advance conservation efforts.
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What bit him? And an expert’s advice
Looking back she said it was a bad omen as she was walking towards the shore when “a huge fish suddenly came out of the water and landed near me”.
The shark that bit him was probably chasing a fish, but mistook his leg for food and nibbled at his foot and leg.
Salamon isn’t sure exactly which shark attacked him, but a spinner or black-tip shark is most likely responsible, as they range in size from five to six feet and the shark was so close to shore.
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Dr. Megan Winton, a leading shark expert who leads research efforts Cape Cod According to Atlantic White Shark Recovery, the human instinctive reaction to fight, splash and lash out is the worst thing that can happen during a shark attack.
“It attracts attention and makes it look like an injured animal,” Winton told Fox News Digital. “And any of their limbs being moved back and forth between the teeth in the shark’s mouth could make the injury even more severe.”
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Winton said if anyone finds themselves in a dire situation like Salamone, the best thing to do is to fight back by attacking the shark’s eyes and gills.
“They’re more gentle, sensitive, and more likely to take down a fighting prey,” Winton said.
