A 12-year-old from Plains Township, Pennsylvania is being incredibly upbeat and optimistic after getting 42 stitches in her left leg. She’s now got a scar with quite the story. The odds of getting bit by a shark are about 1 in 4 million, and this Pennsylvania native is joining the ranks.
Jordan Prushinski was vacationing with her family in Ocean City, Maryland. She was about knee-deep in the water when she felt a wave crash up against her.
It was a lot more than a wave, however. Prushinski exited the water calmly and started walking onto the beach. She had not registered exactly what happened until she looked down and saw blood leaking aggressively from her left leg.
She had 20 large cuts on her leg.
“I didn’t really realize what was going on until I was on the beach and I was bleeding everywhere. I thought a horseshoe crab had got lifted up and hit against my shins, and I don’t like the sea creatures, so I rushed out immediately to find blood everywhere, with cuts all over my left leg,” Jordan Prushinski told NBC affiliate WBRE-TV.
Jordan Prushinski Medical Attention
Luckily, everyone around her jumped to action. An EMT and nurse were present, both of which helped bandage up her leg to help counteract the bleeding before she was sent to the hospital. Jordan was incredibly lucky to have people with medical backgrounds in close proximity.
“She was definitely a rock star. She kind of held it together. It was more the sight of it, so my husband held the towel there with mom and I irrigated the wound and both the lifeguard and I and my husband and then the supervisor kind of wrapped everything up,” Brooke Rathell, a registered nurse with her paramedic husband that day, said to the news outlet.
With good reason, Jordan likely won’t be catching waves anytime soon after the freak incident. Experts believe it may have been a blacktip shark that scratched up her leg. However, it’s not considered a shark attack due to the size of the cuts and the fact that the shark let go.
Sharks are known for getting wrapped up in a case of mistaken identity. Shark bites are common on the hands and feet of humans. It’s often a single bite and then the shark moves on.
According to the Salisbury Daily Times, Maryland was the only coastal state as of June to never have recorded an unprovoked shark attack.
Teen Loses Leg In Shark Attack
Back in 2019, Paige Winter was attacked by a shark while swimming at Atlantic Beach in North Carolina.
The attack was extreme and the overall severity led to the amputation of her leg above the knee. Her father helped save her by punching the shark until it let her go. Despite almost losing her life, Winter is a fierce advocate for sharks and other marine life.
“Despite this unfortunate circumstance, Paige is an unwavering advocate for the marine life and the animals who live in the water. She wishes for people to continue to respect sharks in their environment and their safety,” Winter’s family shared in a statement to ABC News.
Her story was told in full during the SharkFest special, “Shark Attack Investigation: The Paige Winter Story.”
