Shark Bite Survivor Leaves Rehab

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Rileigh Decker is headed home.

She was released from Sea Pines Rehabilitation Hospital in Melbourne on Friday afternoon. Two weeks ago today, 20-year-old Decker and her friend, 24-year-old Summer Layman, were vacationing in the Bahamas. The Brevard County women jumped off a friend’s boat in Bimini Bay and were both promptly bitten by a bull shark.

Decker had to undergo three surgeries after that 7–8-foot shark bit her leg. She told us, “It was definitely a roller coaster. Oh, yeah. But now I think like my life, I couldn’t like it.

There was a possibility that I wouldn’t even be sitting here right now. So, I’m just very grateful that everything went the way it did.”

Layman didn’t escape the attack; her foot was injured. She hoped to have the stitches removed today, but that didn’t happen. She said she must now see a specialist. The women say once they’ve had a chance to recover, they will return to Bimini.

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