Teen girl Annabelle Carlson, 15, loses leg in horror shark attack while scuba diving in Belize
A TEEN has lost her leg in a shark attack after scuba diving off the coast of Belize.
Annabelle Carlson, 15, is in recovery after being bitten by a shark and horrifically losing her leg, local reports claim.
A GoFundMe set up to support her and her family states she had taken off her scuba gear and jumped back in the water for a dip before being attacked by the beast.
It reads: “On a family vacation to Belize, Annabelle was scuba diving with a tour group and her family.
“After she was finished scuba diving and was on the boat, she jumped back into the water for a swim.
“That’s when the unimaginable encounter happened. The odds are one in 11.5 million that this could happen.
“That unimaginable encounter was a shark attack. It was a very aggressive, very traumatic, terror-filled fight for her life.
“Annabelle 1, shark 0.
“Annabelle was able to fight off the attack as best as she could but was critically injured in the fight.
“Annabelle will have a very long road of recovery ahead of her.”
While local reports in Belize claim Annabelle lost her leg, this hasn’t been confirmed on the GoFundMe page.
In an attempt to ease tourists’ minds, Belize’s minister of Blue Economy said Annabelle’s horrific shark attack was “very rare.”
Andre Perez told Channel 5 Belize: “While we are saddened about it, we look at the facts. For the past 30 years, we have never had any kind — this type of accident.”
Scuba guides reportedly transported Annabelle to a Belizean Coast Guard base before she was flown to a hospital in the city.
After the hospital in Belize City stabilised her, Annabelle then took a flight to a trauma centre in the U.S.
The GoFundMe page has raised over $71,000 so far.
The species of shark has not been identified in local media.