Eleonora Boi, the pregnant wife of former NBA player Danilo Gallinari, is speaking out for the first time after surviving a shark bite off a beach in Puerto Rico.
"I have to say, I'm traumatized," Boi told "Good Morning America."
Gallinari and Boi, a sports journalist from Italy who was six months pregnant at the time, had been swimming in waist-deep water with their two young children when Boi said she was suddenly bit on the thigh.
"I felt a strong pain, and my thigh was burning, but my idea was, 'Maybe it's a huge jellyfish.' But in the reality, it wasn't a jellyfish," Boi said.
"I started crying and screaming and I was screaming for help in Italian," the mom of two added.
Shark encounters and sightings have beachgoers on edgeGallinari said he rushed to help.
"As soon as everyone started screaming, I had my son with me. I ran towards my wife and my daughter," said the former NBA forward, who currently plays with the Vaqueros de Bayamón in Puerto Rico.
The couple picked up their children and rushed to shore, where they said a woman helped put pressure on Boi's wound with a clean towel until help arrived.
"'Oh, my God,' I was saying, 'I don't want to die' and 'I want that my baby is safe.' And I was crying. I was desperate, really desperate," Boi recalled.
Boi and Gallinari said they are grateful to the good Samaritan who stayed by their side.
"She was an angel. Danilo was with me, and she helped so much. I would like to say thank you to this woman, because I don't know her name, and I just want to say thank you to her, because she helped a lot," said Boi.
Spearfisherman speaks out after shark bite, warns of more shark encountersBoi said she was transported to a hospital where doctors ran hours of tests to make sure the baby was OK before they decided on an operation for her.
"After they gave us confirmation that the kid was OK and nothing happened to him, then they started the surgery process," Gallinari said.
Boi's doctors told her they had never treated a shark bite victim but expect Boi to make a full recovery. Boi currently has weekly visits with her doctor and is due to give birth in November.
Despite the good news about her physical health, Boi said the ordeal has taken a toll on her mentally.
"I have to be honest, it's not easy, because when I remember, I'm still scared -- and, you know, it's difficult," Boi said.
Gallinari added, "I think that the body in this situation recovers faster than the mind, and that's something that, you know, you don't have to be ashamed of or scared of."
