A Colorado teenager has lost a leg in a shark attack while on vacation in Belize.
Annabelle Carlson, 15, was on a diving excursion near Halfmoon Caye in the Gulf of Honduras when the attack took place, ABC News reported.
The Belize Coast Guard told ABC News the incident happened on the morning of Aug. 6 during an expedition to the Lighthouse Reef.
“It was her right leg that received a bite from the shark,” said Adm. Elton Bennett, of the Belize Coast Guard. “So, she lost her right leg.”
Carlson was airlifted to a local hospital after tour operators pulled her from the water and transported her to a Coast Guard base.
“She’s stable and she’s recovering at this time,” Bennett told the outlet on Thursday.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Carlson and her family.
As of publication, more than $100,000 of the $250,000 goal had been raised, with all donations going to the teen’s recovery journey.
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The fundraiser explained that Annabelle had finished scuba diving and was on the boat where she removed her gear and jumped back into the water for a swim before the attack.
“That’s when the unimaginable encounter happened,” reads the fundraising page. “It was a very aggressive, very traumatic, terror-filled fight for her life.”
It detailed how Annabelle fought off the shark “as best as she could but was critically injured.”
The teen is back in the U.S. but “will have a very long road of recovery ahead of her.”
Belize authorities initially identified the victim as Sofia Carlson, Annabelle’s younger sister, but the teens’ mother Kellie clarified to the outlet it was her older daughter injured by the six-foot-long reef shark.
Officials said shark attacks are not common in their waters.
“I want to highlight that this is something that is very rare,” Belize’s Minister of the Blue Economy Andre Perez told reporters on Wednesday.
“What is the magnitude of the damage, we don’t know as yet, but it’s certainly an unfortunate situation. We’re very saddened about it.”