American tourist mauled by shark in the Bahamas just as she tried to climb back onto boat
A SCUBA diver has been mauled by a shark as she tried to get back on her boat.
Heidi Ernst, 73, was attacked by the beast when she was swimming in the Bahamas on June 7.
The American tourist was given first aid on the boat, which friends said stopped her “bleeding to death,” per a GoFundMe fundraising page that has been created.
Heidi, who recently completed her 500th dive, told The Gazette: “There was blood everywhere. I was dying. I was going to bleed to death. I was afraid I was going to die and I was in severe pain.”
She praised the divers on the boat, describing them as “instrumental” in keeping her alive.
Heidi, from Idaho, was rushed to the hospital in Miami but doctors were forced to amputate her left leg.
She said: “I made the decision with the surgeon to take my leg off. It was evident it could not be saved.”
She said that doctors had agreed it wouldn’t have been a “good idea” to try and save the leg.
Heidi had contracted an infection after being bitten.
She told the CBS affiliate KCCI that she had never feared sharks.
Heidi said: “They typically just come and swim around us. No threatening behaviors, no aggressive behaviors.”
She told The Gazette that she had previously taken pictures of sharks while diving.
But, Heidi described scuba diving as her “biggest passion” and has refused to be put off getting into the water again.
She said: “I do that several times a year. And I plan to go back to it too. I don’t think this is going to hold me back.”
It is just one of the latest shark attacks that have already been reported this year.
Maggie Drozdowski, 15, was attacked off the coast of Stone Harbor, New Jersey in May.
She was attacked by a shark after losing her surfboard in the water.
The teen told the CBS affiliate KYW that it took her about three to four minutes to reach the shore.
High school student Cameron Robbins, 18, vanished after he was last seen swimming in shark-infested waters in the Bahamas in May.
Baseball ace Cameron was not found despite a widespread search and rescue effort that involved US Coast Guard officials and personnel from the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF).
Kevin Blanco, 20, was attacked when spearfishing off the coast of Florida.
He was bitten by the predator he had hooked and reeled up onto the dock.
Kevin said the beast weighed around 500 pounds and told the NBC affiliate WPTV that he was “blindsided” during the attack.
He said: “The shark just blindsided me, bit me in the leg twice – my left, outer leg.”
Kevin revealed his pals helped scramble him to the shoreline, with one of them making a tourniquet that helped save his life.
He compared the impact to being hit by a truck, per the NBC affiliate KVOA.
Kevin said: “It felt like I got hit by an F-150, and the pressure of slowly closing on my leg, everything was going in slow motion.”