{"id":6226,"date":"2026-07-02T13:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=6226"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:38:14","slug":"florida-shark-attack-on-teen-inspires-start-of-national-alert-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=6226","title":{"rendered":"Florida shark attack on teen inspires start of national alert system"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By KIM CHANDLER<\/p>\n

Lulu Gribbin was 15 when she survived a shark attack off the coast of Florida. She lost her left hand, part of her right leg and almost her life.<\/p>\n

Read more Ask a real estate pro: As a buyer, do I have to pay my real estate agent 3 percent?<\/a><\/p>\n

What she didn\u2019t know when she entered the water on that day in 2024 was that another woman had been bitten by a shark 90 minutes earlier and just 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) down the beach. Had she known about the earlier attack, there is no way she would have been swimming, she said.<\/p>\n

Gribbin\u2019s story has inspired new federal legislation to authorize emergency alerts to mobile phones to warn beachgoers when a shark has bitten someone in the area.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump last week signed \u201cLulu\u2019s Law,\u201d which requires the Federal Communications Commission to allow the emergency messages. The legislation, which Gribbin advocated for, authorizes the warnings by classifying a shark attack as an event for which an emergency alert can be issued. It is up to states to implement the warnings. Gribbin\u2019s home state of Alabama approved such a warning system last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really just common-sense legislation. It says that whenever there has been a shark attack in a certain area where you are near, it will send an alert to your phone, exactly like how an Amber Alert system works when a child is abducted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Gribbin said she hopes the alert system will help prevent attacks like hers. \u201cI definitely see this law working in the future and I\u2019m really excited to hopefully save lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A fight to survive<\/h4>\n

Gribbin was one of three people bitten by a shark on June 7, 2024, off the Florida Panhandle.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She was on a mother-daughter trip to the Florida Panhandle. Gribbin said she and her friend had been diving for sand dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the sudden my best friend yelled, \u2018Shark!\u2019 and so we all started swimming for our lives,\u201d Gribbin recalled. She said she remembered that sharks are attracted to frantic splashing and yelled for everyone to be calm. Gribbin, who was closest to the shark, was bitten.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shark bit off my hand first, and I raised my arm out of the water, and there was just flesh and bone there,\u201d Gribbin said. The shark then latched onto her leg. A man punched the shark off her and strangers on the beach rushed to help. She was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital.<\/p>\n

Doctors were able to save the teen\u2019s life but had to amputate part of her right leg.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Choosing positivity throughout her recovery<\/h4>\n

In the hospital, Gribbin made a deliberate decision to choose joy and to never give up.<\/p>\n

She initially struggled knowing, \u201cthat I only have two regular limbs, and that my life would be completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would cry, and I would ask my mom, \u2018Why is it happening to me?\u2019 And on that day, we put a Bible verse on my bedside table that said, \u2018With God, all things are possible.\u2019 And then she told me that what you look like doesn\u2019t define you, it\u2019s who you are on the inside. And so, I think that stuck with me throughout my whole recovery the past two years.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what I look like, as long as I\u2019m spreading positivity and inspiring others to stay strong and to never give up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more Miss Manners: The bride wants to know how to properly shame the non-gift-givers<\/a><\/p>\n

Gribbin was fitted with prosthetic limbs, quickly regained her ability to walk, returned to sports and got her driver\u2019s license. She has gone back in the water and learned to surf, meeting Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, the Alabama Republican who sponsored the legislation, said the legislation happened because of the teen\u2019s \u201ccourage, perseverance, and advocacy to protect future beachgoers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of her strength, lives will be changed. We should all be inspired by her,\u201d Britt said.<\/p>\n

Shark bites remain rare<\/h4>\n

While sharks are commonly found in the waters off the United States, shark bites are rare, said Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History\u2019s shark research program.<\/p>\n

There are between 60 to 80 known unprovoked bites worldwide each year, he said. It\u2019s extremely rare that two or more people are bit in close proximity. He said in a database of known shark bites, called the International Shark Attack File, there have only been a few instances of multiple bites in a single day.<\/p>\n

When that happens, he said it\u2019s likely because of environmental conditions such as sharks following schools of bait fish closer to the shore. Murky water conditions can also be a factor because they increase the chance that a shark will mistake a person for a fish or seal.<\/p>\n

In the area where Gribbin was bitten, there are about 20 to 30 bull sharks 1,312 feet (400 meters) offshore at all time, Naylor said. Great white sharks have been spotted more frequently in the chilly waters of New England and Atlantic Canada, according to conservation groups. A smartphone app called Sharktivity also allows shark spotters to report their sightings.<\/p>\n

The sightings might unnerve people, but Naylor said it\u2019s important to remember that shark attacks are rare.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf sharks wanted to eat people, we\u2019d have about 10,000 bites a day. The fact that we have so few is basically testament to the fact that the sharks are doing their level best to avoid people, not to target them,\u201d Naylor said.<\/p>\n

Gribbin said she would rather people have the opportunity to get information and make decisions about protecting themselves than to go into the water without knowing.<\/p>\n

Another survivor praises the alert system<\/h4>\n

Braxton Rocha, who was bitten by a large tiger shark off the north shore of the Big Island of Hawaii, said he liked the idea of an alert system. He thinks it is information that people, particularly tourists to the island, will want to know.<\/p>\n

Rocha was spearfishing in 2015 when he saw the large shark. \u201cLooked like a bus or submarine. She was the biggest thing I\u2019d seen in the ocean at that time,\u201d Rocha said. He started making his way to shore. When he looked back to check where the shark was, the animal was right in front of him. He tried to push the shark away, but the animal was too big and powerful. It latched onto his leg. Rocha punched it in the nose and the shark let go and swam away.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything happened so fast. It was almost like being struck by lightning. I was still kind of out of it. I looked down and see giant clouds of blood just bursting out of my leg,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It took nearly 100 staples to repair the gaping wound on his leg. But the experience did not dampen Rocha\u2019s enthusiasm for the ocean and wildlife. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved sharks,\u201d Rocha said.<\/p>\n

Read more After Amazon launch, all of ULA\u2019s Atlas V rockets reserved for Starliner<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lulu Gribbin was 15 when she survived a shark attack off the coast of Florida. 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