(WCNC/NBC News) A North Carolina mom is back home and recovering after losing her hand and part of an arm during a shark attack in the Bahamas.
Tiffany Johnson was attacked by a large shark while snorkeling.
The shark bit off part of her arm in about 20 feet of water. Her husband James had just swum back to the boat moments before.
"Honestly it felt like I had bumped into something. I wasn't alarmed. It didn't hurt. So I looked to the right to see what bumped into and that was when I was face-to-face with a shark. He had my arm in his mouth. It was floating there just staring at me. So when I went to pull back is when the struggle began. He clamped down harder, thrashing," said Johnson.
Fighting her way free, Tiffany saw part of her arm was now gone. Her husband jumped in to help and they made it back to the boat. He tied a beach towel around her arm as they rushed to a hospital.
She says it was a miracle she survived.
"God-given strength rose up and came inside of me and I remember thinking this is not the end. He is not going to take my life. I'm just so thankful to be alive, to share this story and I'm just praying that it will impact people's lives and they can see God in it," she said.
The mother of three is now scheduled to have another surgery to prepare for an artificial limb.
A gofundmepage has been set up to help the family with medical expenses.
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