A woman has gone viral on TikTok after sharing her terrifying experience of being attacked by a shark – with her “smacking” the animal in the face to get away.
Heather West, 35, from Montgomery, Texas, US, was visiting Dry Tortugas National Park in January 2022 with some fellow adventure buffs when the incident took place.
The trip descended into chaos when they decided to take a dip in the water.
While her friends lingered on the shore nearby, Heather was filming in the ocean when she suddenly “sensed danger”.
Moments later, she was in the shark’s grip.
“A voice in my head said ‘get out now’,” Heather, who shared her story on TikTok, where it has racked up 16 million views, told Jam Press.
“The second I was facing the beach I felt something grab me by my ankle.
“Even though just seconds before I saw all the guys on the beach, my brain still couldn’t comprehend what was happening and I thought one of them grabbed me to scare me.
“I remember thinking how strong they were, it felt like my ankle was in a vice grip and it was so strong… I just sat there waiting for it to let go.
“As soon as that thought left my mind, I felt a massive jerk on my leg and immediately knew it was a shark that was dragging me.
“As it was dragging me through the water, I knew I was on my own and I needed to fight back if I wanted any chance at surviving.
“I flipped over on my back, with my leg still facing the opposite direction and started kicking at his face with my good leg.
“I had on flippers so I couldn’t get the propulsion I needed to give him a good smack in the face.
“I was so mad that I used him as leverage and sat up in the water, screaming ‘you motherf****r’ while punching down into the water at his face with both fists, and that’s when he decided to let go.”
Once free, Heather – who thought her foot was gone – yelled to her friends for help, while also bracing herself in case she got attacked again.
She said: “Blood was filling the water and I couldn’t see where he went.
“I felt like I was in a Jaws movie at that moment.”
Heather’s friends eventually dragged her by her arms to the beach and one of them made a tourniquet, applying pressure to the wound on her foot, while another person tried to find help.
Meanwhile, adrenaline and shock kicked in.
She said: “At this point I still thought my foot was gone, I looked down and saw it still attached and started screaming ‘I can’t believe I won!’
“I was really happy afterwards, I just felt so grateful to be alive.
“I wasn’t upset or crying at all, I just kept saying ‘wow, that was a wild ride!’”
After describing the creature, two locals identified it as a 6ft lemon shark that had been circling around and attacking birds for some time.
Heather was taken to a nearby island before being put on a charter plane to Lower Keys Medical Center in Stock Island, Florida, US.
A group of healthcare workers were waiting for her on arrival, however Heather claims it took three and a half hours for her to get assistance.
The 35-year-old also claims she was told staff were “too busy”, leading her to “help herself”.
She said: “I went back over to the bed and started slowly removing my bandaging and cleaning up the area around the wound.
“At this point I still had not received anything for pain and this process was extremely painful.”
She was then visited by a doctor who checked the wound and said he would return later, with Heather eventually given 18 stitches.
However, she was left unhappy with the treatment she received in hospital and claims to have been released while still in need of medical attention.
She said: “It was obvious by just looking at my foot that my tendons were torn if not severed and the ligaments in my ankle were torn.
“[In my opinion], no one cared, what they did to me was truly the most traumatic part of the day – worse than the actual attack.”
Heather has been left with permanent damage.
Despite the horrific ordeal, just four weeks after the attack, she decided to go back into the water.
TikTok users have been left stunned by the shocking story.
One person said: “I love that you were present enough to make a TikTok during the trip.”
“This is the kind of shark attack I want where it’s enough of a story to tell but in the grand screen I’m chilling,” another user commented.
Someone else added: “LOOK AT THE PULSING IN THE FIRST CLIP.”
“Man you are so lucky, someone was watching over you,” added another viewer.
Another user joked: “Nail polish matching the blood – fancy.”
Jam Press has contacted Lower Keys Medical Center for comment on multiple occasions.
