SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — “She’s doing well and in good spirits,” Skylar Sullivent shared with WFAA after her mom, Tabatha Sullivent of Celina, survived a shark attack on South Padre Island on the 4th of July.
The family is still at the hospital although Skylar's dad, Cary Sullivent, who also has a few shark bites sustained fighting the shark off, has been released.
“Thankful it was me and not the kids I was swimming with. I swam up closer to the beach and was pulled in. The shark was still in pursuit and Cary (my husband) hit the shark and kept it from having me for lunch probably," Tabatha wrote in a GoFundMe page set up for the family.
As for her condition, the wife and mom wrote, “I lost my left calf. I have movement in my toes and circulation in my foot. I probably won't have full mobility when I'm put back together and will not have the same leg I had before. But, I'm alive. They will some exploratory surgery and cleaning today to see what can be done. Thanks for all the prayers and support.”
Kyle Jud, who lives in Oak Point, Texas in Denton County, witnessed the attack.
“We’ve seen sharks around here. We’ve seen them offshore. We’ve seen them in the bay but, never in the surf like that. Certainly, never that close to the shore in the surf. It was in super shallow water and a big fish so no, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Jud said.
Jud went on to describe what happened the morning of the 4th of July.
“All of a sudden, about 50 yards up the beach, people started waving like this commotion. Then, we just see this lady being dragged out of the deeper water up into the shallower water by her hands. That’s when we knew something was wrong,” Jud said.
He and his family saw the Sullivent family fighting to save Tabatha’s life.
“After they got a hold of her and dragged her up into the shallow water, that shark stayed right there and just circled. We were all… for a pretty good, long time. That shark was there just circling right in front of us,” Jud recounted.
Several people were hurt by the same shark on South Padre. There were four separate incidents, involving two bites.