A FULL-TIME<\/em><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0firefighter in Taylor County, Florida, Rhett Willingham says he\u2019s at all times been shut along with his sister, Addison Bethea. While rising up within the Panhandle, they\u2019ve spent numerous days fishing,<\/em> searching, and exploring collectively. The two siblings additionally attempt to make time to gather scallops each summer season, and Willingham says that ever because the season opened on July 1, Addison had been bugging him about getting out\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n My youthful sister Addison and I prefer to go scallop searching each summer season, so we picked a day in early July and left from Keaton Beach in my boat. The scalloping was nice that day. The two of us have been swimming collectively and sharing a bag, and after a couple of hours of choosing scallops off the underside, it was already half full.<\/p>\n We have been swimming again to my boat when all of the sudden I heard a yelp. I stood up within the shallows and circled, however I couldn\u2019t see Addison. I believed,\u00a0She should be underwater grabbing one other scallop.<\/em><\/p>\n I spun round once more, and this time I noticed her\u2014with a giant shark biting her leg! It will need to have been 8 or 9 toes lengthy. She was screaming and punching its nostril, desperately making an attempt to get it to let go of her. And there was blood in every single place! It seemed prefer it was boiling up from beneath her.<\/p>\n I swam straight to her and began punching, kneeing, and kicking the shark. At final, it let go.<\/p>\n But at the same time as I grabbed her and swam her again towards my boat, the shark stayed with us. It was prefer it refused to surrender! We have been nonetheless within the water when a stranger pulled alongside us in his personal vessel. He had seen what occurred, and he helped me get her aboard.<\/p>\n The very first thing I did was seize his telephone to name 911. As a firefighter within the county, I do know our protocol. I additionally knew that I needed to cease the bleeding as a result of Addison\u2019s leg was in unhealthy form. I grabbed a thick rope to make a tourniquet. I wrapped it round her thigh, stepping on her slashed femur whereas I pulled the rope as tight as I may.<\/p>\n A sheriff\u2019s deputy was ready for us again on the dock. After an EMT put a recent tourniquet on Addison\u2019s leg, a helicopter airlifted her to a trauma middle in Tallahassee. The docs have been unable to avoid wasting her proper leg after a number of surgical procedures, and so they needed to amputate it above the knee. But she\u2019s recovering and has began to stroll once more. That\u2019s the essential factor.<\/p>\n You can learn the complete story about Addison\u2019s rescue\u00a0right here<\/a>.<\/em> We publish true adventures. Send yours to\u00a0THTM@outdoorlife.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n This story initially ran within the Migrations Issue of Outdoor Life. Read extra\u00a0OL+<\/a>\u00a0tales.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n