The Florida teenager who survived a shark attack last week will have part of her right leg amputated on Tuesday.
The Taylor County Sheriff's Office said Addison Bethea was scalloping near Grassy Island in water approximately five feet deep when she was attacked by what was described as a 9-foot shark.
Her brother, a firefighter/EMT, fought the animal off and pulled her onto a stranger's boat before she was taken to a local hospital.
According to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Bethea suffered "devastating damage to the soft tissue in her right leg."
On Sunday, the hospital said doctors would amputate just above Bethea's right knee on Tuesday.
"This is the best-case scenario for Addison, and the best option to get her back to the most normal life possible,” Addison’s mother, Michelle, of Satellite Beach, Florida, said in a press release posted on the hospital's Facebook page.
The hospital said doctors restored blood flow to her leg by rebuilding the blood vessels.
"Surgeons will amputate the leg just above the knee and take muscular tissue and skin from the lower leg to wrap around Addison’s femur, reconstructing the upper leg," the hospital said. "This will give Addison the ability to use a prosthesis for her lower leg."
According to the hospital, a GoFundMe has been set up to help her and her family.
