A 9-year-old girl, Leah Lendel, survives shark attack while she was snorkeling off Boca Grande, Florida on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. The attack was serious that she was left with severe injuries to her hand. Her mother, who was about four feet away with her two toddler children, said she saw that Leah’s hand was covered in blood and mostly to*n off, she was airlifted to a hospital in Tampa where she undergoes a six-hour surgery.
Her situation at this time is said to be going well. According to her family members, doctors were able to put her hand back together and restore blood flow to the entire hand.
During the attack, she went underwater and as she came up, she started screaming. The mother said she took the two toddlers to shore as her husband, who was also snorkeling, swam over. Leah was able to walk to shore by herself, where a group of nearby construction workers wrapped her hand in some t-shirts, according to the authorities.
Leah Lendel GoFundMe
A Gofundme has been created to help with Leah’s medical expenses and to also sustain her family during this time. The GoFundMe was ceated on Thursday, June 12, 2025 by her uncle, Max Derinskiy.
According to Leah’s uncle Max, she will remain in the hospital for a while, “and then a lot of physical therapy to hopefully get her hand functioning again.”
Nothing is too small to donate as it would go a long way in Leah’s recovery journey.
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