Mom of Three 'Fighting for Her Life' After Shark Brutally Mauls Her Leg
A 35-year-old mom of three is on a long road to recovery after she was attacked by a shark while swimming at a popular surf spot in San Diego County on Sunday.
Leeanne Ericson was wading in the water at a surf spot near San Onofre State Beach at around 6:30 p.m. when a shark bit her on her thigh, the Los Angeles Times reports. She was reportedly airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla.
“It tore her right back leg from the glute to her knee,” Christine Leidle wrote on a GoFundMe page for the woman. “She’s now in Scripps Memorial Hospital fighting for her life.”
Leidle added that Ericson, who she wrote is a single mom of “three young children,” has “a long road ahead with several surgeries to go.”
17-Year-Old Surfer Dies After Losing Leg in Shark Attack
A state park aide, Travis Lara, told The Orange County Register that two surfers pulled Ericson from the water and one person used a surf leash on Ericson’s upper thigh to stop the bleeding.
Another beachgoer, Thomas Williams, told the Register that Ericson’s injuries could have been life-threatening if she had not received immediate medical condition.
“It was definitely to the point, her hamstring was gone,” Williams said. “All of the back of her leg was kind of missing.”
The beach was closed in the wake of the attack and officials were discussing whether to extend the length of the ban, prohibiting swimming, surfing and diving about a mile north and south of the beach, The San Diego Tribune reports.
