A 12-year-old Philadelphia girl who survived a gruesome shark attack Monday that left 50 stitches in her leg is now sharing details of the harrowing day.
Magnolia Woodhead, who was in Cocoa Beach, Florida — a beach town east of Orlando — for a gymnastics competition, had just swam south of the town pier. At first, her family’s biggest concern was her getting a sunburn.
Then, a shark caught hold of Woodhead’s leg.
“Right when I got out of the water, I just started screaming because I knew that it wasn’t good,” Woodhead told FOX 35 in Orlando.
Doctors believe the poor girl was bitten twice while in the water, based on the numerous puncture wounds she had received.
“About 75 to 100 up and down her little thigh,” her mother, Melissa Stallings said.
“My husband picks her up, and I could see blood dripping down her leg … Shark bite was not on the agenda for the day, I’ll tell you that,” the mother added.
Despite the horrific injury Woodhead had sustained — and the hospital visit and 50 stitches that came after — her focus was on only one thing.
“My first thought was, like, ‘I’m not going to do gymnastics,’” she recalled.
After being discharged from the medical center, Woodhead cheered on her teammates from the sidelines while she, of course, sat this competition out.
“I was just there because I really wanted to support my teammates because I know they’ve worked so hard on this contest and stuff,” Woodhead said.
Although she won’t be plunging into the water “for a long time,” the brave athlete aims to return to the Sunshine State to partake in next year’s competition.
Later this week Woodhead will be doing what all champions do — going to Disney World to celebrate her high-spirited recovery.
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