A 13-year-old from Texas is recovering after being bitten by a barracuda while celebrating her birthday on a family vacation in Turks and Caicos.
Claire MacDonel was swimming in the ocean on July 19 when she said she was bitten in the hand while doing a handstand in the water.
"I was doing a handstand, and then midway I just felt a lot of pressure," Claire told Houston ABC station KTRK-TV. "And then I looked up and I saw my hand bleeding and I was like, 'Mom. I don't know what to do, my hand's bleeding, something bit me.'"
The bite severely injured Claire's left hand, severing a nerve, several tendons and one ligament, according to KTRK.
"I was really scared," Claire said. "There was a big cut on my hand ... and there [was] blood pouring down my arm, like rushing."
At first, Claire said she thought something much larger had attacked her.
"And then, when it let go of me, I looked behind me. I just saw a big silver-like tail," she recalled. "And I thought it was the shark."
"My biggest fear was losing my hand," she added.
Claire's mother Jen MacDonel said she rushed to get her daughter safely out of the water. A bystander who is a nurse used a towel to make a tourniquet while they waited for first responders to arrive, according to KTRK.
"There was so much blood, so I just got to her as quickly as I could, got her out of the water to the shoreline," MacDonel said.
Attacks on humans by great barracudas are rare and often occur when the fish mistakes a shiny object, such as diving gear, for prey, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Divers Alert Network, a nonprofit focused on diving safety, advises swimmers and divers to avoid wearing shiny jewelry in areas where barracudas are present.
Claire said she believes a bracelet she was wearing in the water may have caught the barracuda's attention.
The teen underwent surgery on July 29 in Texas and is expected to regain full use of her hand, according to KTRK.
Claire said she will continue to swim in the ocean and still hopes to become a marine biologist one day.
"I feel like there's always going to be risk in the ocean. It is their home. I'm not mad," she said.
