An Iowa scuba diver misplaced her leg after surviving a shark assault within the Bahamas.

Heidi Ernst informed The Gazette that she was climbing into her boat following a June 7 dive by Grand Bahama Island when a shark grabbed ahold of her left leg and shook its head.

Ms. Ernst, 73, was in a position to free herself by hitting the shark, however the severity of her accidents was instantly evident to these aboard the vessel.

“There was blood everywhere,” she informed the Iowa newspaper. “I was dying. I was going to bleed to death. I was afraid I was going to die and was in severe pain.”

Passengers wrapped a tourniquet round her leg whereas working to maintain her acutely aware as medical authorities have been referred to as. Her situation was stabilized at a neighborhood hospital, then two days later the veteran scuba diver was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

That’s the place she instructed docs to amputate her mangled leg.

“[The doctor] did not think that it would be a good idea to try and save the leg because of future problems with infection,” Ms. Ernst informed The Gazette. “So I said, ‘Yeah, let’s just do it. Let’s just amputate.’ And that night they took me into the operating room and did it.”

Ms. Ernst’s foot and most of her shin have been eliminated, aside from a small portion under her knee to assist along with her prosthetic.

Despite the traumatic harm, Ms. Ernst mentioned she’s going to proceed diving as soon as her physique is adjusted to the brand new leg.

“Life is going to be a little different,” she informed The Gazette. “My life was different after my husband died. It was very different. And so now it’s going to be a little different again.”

Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com