Heidi Ernst.Photo:gofundme
gofundme
An Iowa woman had a harrowing encounter with a shark while diving in the Bahamas that resulted in the loss of her leg.
73-year-old Heidi Ernst, an scuba diver with over 500 dives under her belt, experienced a dangerous encounter with a shark for the first time on June 7, according toThe Gazette.
“They typically just come and swim around us. No threatening behaviors, no aggressive behaviors,” she told CBS affiliateKCCI.
After resurfacing from a dive, Ernst removed her suit and decided to take a swim, according toThe Gazette. But as she was climbing the ladder to get back on the boat, a shark latched onto her leg, violently biting and thrashing.
“I don’t blame the shark,” she told the newspaper. “The shark knew that there was food to be had at a boat. And he thought my leg was the food.”
Still, it was a frightening, and dangerous, ordeal.
“There was blood everywhere,” Ernst toldThe Gazette.“I was afraid I was going to die.”
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The boat’s crew administered first aid before first responders rushed her to a hospital. In Miami, the decision was made to amputate her leg.
After hearing from a surgeon who didn’t think “it would be a good idea to try and save the leg because of future problems with infection,” Ernst told the newspaper that she was on board. “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,” she recalled.
A friend has since launched aGoFundMecampaign to help raise money to cover medical expenses.
In addition to being an avid diver and underwater photographer, a message on the page said that Ernst is “fearless, kind, gentle, giving, honest” and perhaps most importantly, a “wonderful friend.”
“Heidi is a proud, independent woman that does not like to ask for help but her friends want to help her and this is a way,” added the organizer.
source: people.com
