A GoFundMe online fundraiser has collected more than $10,000 for a Flower Mound woman recovering from injuries suffered in a recent shark attack in Florida.
Lindsay Bruns, 35, was on a family vacation with her husband and two daughters in the Florida Keys when, on June 29, she was attacked by a large shark while swimming, according to the GoFundMe. Her husband, Luke, got Lindsay back into the boat and saw that her right leg was mangled and she was losing a lot of blood.
“Her femur was exposed,” Luke told WFAA-TV. “I thought, ‘This might be it.'”
After getting the bleeding under control as best he could, using the boat’s rope as a makeshift tourniquet, Luke started the 30-minute boat ride back to shore and called 911.
Upon their return to shore, Lindsay was taken by air ambulance to a trauma center. After hours of surgery, doctors were confident Lindsay would live but they were unsure if she could keep her leg. After a total of three long surgeries, they are confident she will keep her leg and hopeful she will eventually regain most function of her leg. WFAA reported that Luke’s makeshift tourniquet saved her life.
“Some of the surgeons asked me at the hospital, ‘How did you know how to tie a tourniquet?'” Luke told WFAA. “I was like, ‘I didn’t.'”
Lindsay has been optimistic and in good spirits, even after 11 blood transfusions, four days in the ICU and five additional days in the hospital, according to a social media post by Luke. The family returned home late last week, and “Lindsay still has a long road to recovery … but is exceeding everyone’s expectations with her progress.”
The GoFundMe has raised more than $10,600, and the goal is set at $40,000 to help cover medical expenses.