A Colorado teen lost her leg in a shark attack while on vacation in Belize this week.
Fifteen-year-old Annabelle Carlson of Aspen was on a diving trip with her family near Half Moon Caye in the Gulf of Honduras when the attack happened Tuesday morning.
According to a GoFundMe page set up for Carlson's family, the teen had finished scuba diving and jumped in for a swim when the "unimaginable encounter" with the "aggressive" shark occurred. Carlson fought off the animal but suffered critical injuries in the fight.
"The emergency responders in Belize acted very quickly. She was airlifted by helicopter to a trauma medical center in Belize City. The quick action from the emergency response team in Belize saved her life," the GoFundMe said.
A Belizean official told a local news outlet that the incident was the first shark attack in the country in recent memory.
Minister of the Blue Economy Andre Perez said, "We're very saddened about [the attack], but I want to highlight that this is something that is very rare and I don't think this is a time to say, well, you know, we don't want to go swimming again or something."
He added, "While we are saddened about it, we look at the facts. For the past 30 years, we have never had any kind — this type of accident."
As of Friday evening, Carlson's GoFundMe had raised more than $119,000 of its $250,000 goal. The page says Carlson has a long road of recovery ahead of her.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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