A trip to the beach is supposed to be the highlight of any summer vacation.
But for one teenager, going back into the water turned into a nightmare.
And a teen had to fight her way out of hell in the ocean after this beach trip went wrong.
Teenager attacked by shark during Texas beach trip
Damiana Humphrey and her family traveled to the Galveston, Texas area to spend Memorial Day Weekend at the beach.
The 19-year-old was looking forward to a fun weekend of frolicking at the beach when the worst happened.
Humphrey and her family were waist-deep in the Gulf of Mexico when her sister-in-law noticed something in the waves.
“We were about like waist deep because the waves were so bad and the wind was pretty bad,” Humphrey recalled. “My sister-in-law was with us and she saw something happen in one of the waves. At the time we didn’t really know what it was.”
A four to five-foot shark emerged from the wave and locked onto her hand.
“As I was turning, a shark like grabbed a hold of the top of my hand and so I looked down and saw that there was a shark on my hand,” Humphrey said.
Oklahoma teen escapes shark after punching it
Instinct kicked in, and she began furiously punching the shark until it let go and swam away.
“It was just instinct,” Humphrey explained. “It happened and that was my first reaction when I saw it. It felt like a dream because of how fast it happened. I didn’t have time to process it until I made it back to shore.”
Her sister-in-law Traci Humphrey said she wasn’t shocked by the reaction.
“Her brothers can attest, if you’re annoying to their sister, she might punch you,” Traci said.
Oklahoma Aquarium Deputy Director John Money said that Humphrey had the right reaction to the situation.
“Anything you can do to get that shark to release you and definitely their nose is very sensitive there snout so hitting, punching to get away is effective,” Money explained.
Humphrey made it out of the water, where she was rushed to a local hospital.
The shark bite severed four tendons in her hand, which required surgery.
She’s expected to make a full recovery after completing physical therapy.
“I know I’m OK and it wasn’t as bad as some people’s were. So I’m very lucky in that sense and I take that to heart,” Humphrey said.
The Oklahoma teen said that the shark attack wouldn’t stop her from going back into the water.
“I will definitely steer clear of murky water for right now,” Humphrey stated.
Galveston Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis said that shark attacks are rare in the area.
“It’s really rare for us to have shark bites here in Galveston,” Davis said. “I’ve worked a few of them in my career and the ones I’ve seen were shark bites, not attacks. Meaning it was a case of mistaken identity where they latched onto a human and swam away it sounds like this may have been similar to that.”
A shark bite is the nightmare scenario for any trip to the beach.
Thankfully, Damiana Humphrey was able to escape without any permanent injuries.
