It was nightmare: A 17-year-old girl named Caitlin Taylor swam at the beach in Destin, Florida, was suddenly attacked by a five-foot shark. The shark bit into her leg and caused deep wounds, but Taylor did not flinch. She struggled with him and punched him in the face which made him loosen his bite on her leg and swim away.
According to local police, Taylor swam in waist-high water when she suddenly saw what she thought was a dolphin approaching her. Only when she felt a cruel bite on her leg did she realize that it was a shark-and began to fight it. As mentioned, she turned and punched the shark until he released his grip on her leg. “He bit her leg and just lifted her up in the water,” said her mother, who witnessed the incident. “But then Caitlin battled him.”
Aggressive sharks are rare on this beach: Taylor's case was the third total since 1982, authorities say. It is not yet known what species of shark has attacked her; when he got punched in the face, he disappeared without a trace.
Taylor needed eighty stitches on her leg, but she was certainly lucky. The police said her injury was “relatively mild” and she is expected to recover completely.