17-year-old girl punches shark in the face to save herself

Turning her spring break into a horrific nightmare, the five-foot-long shark caught hold of Caitlyn Taylor's legs, and tried to drag her off the beach.

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Shark attack! (Source: kinley/Caitlyn Taylor/Twitter)

Swimming on a Sunday afternoon with a group of friends in Destin, Florida, a 17-year-old teenager saw the tail of a big fish approaching her. Thinking it was a dolphin, Caitlyn Taylor stayed there until terror struck in and she realised that it was the killer fish speeding its way towards her.

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Turning her spring break at the Gulf of Mexico into a horrific nightmare, the five-foot-long shark caught hold of her legs, and tried to drag her off the beach. The softball player acted with all her sharpness and shrewdness, and managed to hit it in the head.

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Her quick-witted action saved the day for her as the shark swam back in the deep blue sea. Merely escaping its clutches, Taylor was deeply bitten in the legs — with upper and lower jaw marks clearly visible on both her legs.

Taylor took to Twitter to share the pictures of her leg. “Beyond lucky to be alive and well and thank you to everyone for the support and wishes and I’m going to be okay,” she captioned the tweet.

Beyond lucky to be alive and well and thank you to everyone for the support and wishes and I’m going to be okay, love you guys❤❤❤pic.twitter.com/wm6wVryVzw

— Caitlyn Taylor (@cbt212) April 3, 2017

Caitlyn’s mother, Tracey, told WHAS that her daughter got as many stitches as 120 to 140. Narrating the incident, she told the daily: “Caitlyn says she turned around and the head of it was coming towards her with a wave and she said she turned to swim back to shore and she says she felt it just grab her and lift her off of the bottom.” She added that Taylor could break free only after punching its nose.

Twitterati took to the micro-blogging site to share more pictures and also showered words of praise for her bravery.

has stitches and still looks good af pic.twitter.com/vJMbEi8uWC

— kinley (@kkiinnlleeyy) April 4, 2017

You can’t get bit by a shark if you don’t go to destin pic.twitter.com/aSVv4BjyWZ

— Jaquar (@rauqaj) April 3, 2017

honestly one of the most amazing survival stories out there. so glad you’re okay!!!! 💖 you’re literally a legend now https://t.co/8NSnz5Bva2

— kara🌹 (@karaguess) April 3, 2017

@cbt212 glad that you are okay, but this is officially the most badass story anyone could ever have in their life

— ryan boyle (@ryanboyle8208) April 3, 2017

it was such a traumatizing event out there and i’m so lucky to still have my sister who is so strong and a such a fighter 💗https://t.co/2Jlac8ZP56

— paige taylor (@pdt802) April 3, 2017

What a brave act, isn’t it?

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