A 19-year-old Oklahoma teen fought off a shark attack while swimming with her siblings in Galveston, Texas, FOX26 reported Wednesday.
Damiana Humphrey was on vacation with her family May 28 and swimming in waist-deep water when a shark latched on to her hand, according to FOX26.
“I looked down and there was a shark attached to my hand, so I guess I started punching it,” she said. “That part is kind of blurry to me.” (RELATED: ‘Struggle To Unclench The Jaw’: Woman Recounts Wrestling Her Way Out Of Shark’s Grasp)
Shark bites 19-year-old at Galveston Beach, severed her tendons https://t.co/JZvUaK4I29
— TexasMom (@akkcrystal36) June 6, 2024
Damiana said when the shark released its grip and swam away after she punched it, she and her siblings got out of the water quickly, FOX26 reported.
“They said [the shark] was about four to five feet,” she said.
Damiana was transported to a local hospital by Galveston first responders where doctors operated on her hand, according to FOX26.
Since four tendons were severed, Damiana won’t be able to use her hand for several weeks while in recovery, meaning she won’t be able to fulfill her duties as a patient care technician this summer, the outlet reported.
“They said I should make a full recovery with my physical therapy,” she said. “Honestly, I’m just glad it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”
“It’s really rare for us to have shark bites here in Galveston,” Galveston Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis told FOX26. “I’ve worked a few of them in my career and the ones I’ve seen were shark bites, not attacks. Meaning it was a case of mistaken identity where they latched onto a human and swam away it sounds like this may have been similar to that.”
Despite the limited number of shark attacks, Texas A&M research scientist, Dr. Kesley Banks, told FOX26 that there are many sharks in the Galveston area.
“Especially off Texas, the most common species are black tips, spinner sharks, bull sharks. Around the summer we see hammerheads and tiger sharks. They’re always there,” she said.
There are more shark encounters during the summer due to larger numbers of people in the water, Banks told FOX26.