Iowa scuba diver loses leg in Bahamas shark attack

An Iowa scuba diver lost her leg after surviving a shark attack in the Bahamas.

Heidi Ernst told The Gazette that she was climbing into her boat following a June 7 dive by Grand Bahama Island when a shark grabbed ahold of her left leg and shook its head.

Ms. Ernst, 73, was able to free herself by hitting the shark, but the severity of her injuries was immediately evident to those aboard the vessel.

“There was blood everywhere,” she told the Iowa newspaper. “I was dying. I was going to bleed to death. I was afraid I was going to die and was in severe pain.”

Passengers wrapped a tourniquet around her leg while working to keep her conscious as medical authorities were called. Her condition was stabilized at a local hospital, then two days later the veteran scuba diver was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

That’s where she instructed doctors to amputate her mangled leg.

“[The doctor] did not think that it would be a good idea to try and save the leg because of future problems with infection,” Ms. Ernst told The Gazette. “So I said, ‘Yeah, let’s just do it. Let’s just amputate.’ And that night they took me into the operating room and did it.”

Ms. Ernst’s foot and most of her shin were removed, except for a small portion below her knee to help with her prosthetic.

Despite the traumatic injury, Ms. Ernst said she’s going to continue diving once her body is adjusted to the new leg.

“Life is going to be a little different,” she told The Gazette. “My life was different after my husband died. It was very different. And so now it’s going to be a little different again.”