Leeanne Ericson was swimming at a popular surf spot off Camp Pendleton’s San Onofre State Beach in California on Saturday when she was bitten on the thigh by a shark at around 6:30 p.m., the Los Angeles Times reports.
The animal viciously mauled her leg, and Ericson was pulled to shore by bystanders who helped curb the bleeding before she was airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“It tore her right back leg from the glute to her knee,” Christine Leidle wrote on a GoFundMe page for Ericson. “She’s now in Scripps Memorial Hospital fighting for her life.”
“She is a single mom with three young children who depend on her,” Leidle added. “She has a long (road) ahead….”
Beachgoer Thomas Williams told the Register that Ericson’s injuries could have been life-threatening had she not received immediate attention.
“It was definitely to the point, her hamstring was gone,” he said. “All of the back of her leg was kind of missing.”
The beaches in geographic proximity to the attack were closed after the fact and officials are considering extending the closing. Camp Pendleton posted guards Sunday to block beachgoers from the water and lifeguards from Marine Corps Community Services were posted as well.
A GoFundMe page was made for Leeanne Ericson, who was seriously injured after being attacked by a shark https://t.co/8CV1vjmTd8 pic.twitter.com/6cWtV3ddui
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) May 1, 2017
This story first appeared at Womanista.
