The Ochoa family was on vacation in Galveston, Texas this past weekend when the unthinkable happened: A shark bit the leg of their 8-year-old girl named Harper. Harper’s mother, in an interview with KWTX News, says her family from central Texas has taken the trip to the beaches of Galveston several times before, but none of them has been as eventful as this one.
[RELATED: Scientists Explain the Rare Orange Shark That Went Viral]
Harper was wading in the ocean when suddenly she felt something grab her leg. It was bleeding profusely, and it took a while before they realized what had really happened. Doctors said the girl’s injury (a chunk out of her lower leg) was consistent with a shark bite.
Although doctors fixed up Harper’s leg with 19 staples and sent her home, she is not back in the hospital due to an infection. Hopefully she’ll be back home and healthy soon.
The most common sharks off the coast of Texas include bull sharks, blacktip sharks, and Atlantic sharpnose sharks.
See an interview with the mom of the young girl who was bitten by a shark in Texas here:
Header stock image by Stephen Frink/Getty Images