Elisabeth Foley stood before doctors, nurses and first responders at HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital on May 21, 2025, nearly one year after a shark attack in the Gulf changed her life forever.
- The Virginia resident was vacationing with her family in June 2024 when she was attacked by a shark, losing her hand and suffering severe injuries to her midsection and pelvic area. She was among three victims injured in shark attacks in Walton County on June 7, 2024.
“I am so thankful that the body forgets pain because I had lost a lot of blood in the water, and I just thought, this is when I die,” Elisabeth said, describing the moment of the attack in a recent video with HCA Florida.
The attack occurred while Elisabeth was swimming with her family. She saw a massive shape behind her and began swimming before feeling searing pain between her legs because she had just been bitten.
“I just instinctively knew it was a shark,” Elisabeth said. “It was still below the surface of the water. So I punched at its snout, and that’s when it grabbed me by my hand and it pulled me under the water. I just cried out and I said, ‘God, please let me live.’”
When she surfaced, Elisabeth saw about four inches of white bone protruding from her shredded hand. Her husband Ryan pulled her from the water as they called for help.
- “I just remember saying everybody get out of the water,” Ryan Foley said.
On shore, Elisabeth was surrounded by vacationing medical professionals who provided immediate care until emergency responders arrived. She was then transported to HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, a Level II Trauma Center.
Dr. Cathy Ho, trauma surgeon at the hospital, treated Elisabeth as a level one trauma patient. A comprehensive team of trauma and orthopedic physicians worked to stabilize her condition.
“We went directly to the operating room. We were met with orthopedic surgery who took care of her left hand amputation while my team and myself took care of her other injuries,” Dr. Ho said.
- Through HCA Healthcare’s network, Elisabeth was transferred to Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hospitals in Richmond, Virginia, to be closer to home. The Richmond facility specializes in wound care and reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Jeffrey Litt, a wound surgeon at Chippenham Hospital, performed six surgeries on Elisabeth. The complexity of her injuries required multiple procedures to clean wounds and support skin grafts.
“The complexity of her injuries, especially along her body and her inner thighs and so on, required multiple debridement to make sure that they were clean and could support either a skin graft or support other ways of closing things with suturing,” Dr. Litt said.
Elisabeth underwent 18 complex surgeries during her 44-day stay at the two HCA Healthcare facilities. She returned home on August 6, 2024.
Dr. Mack Drake, also a wound surgeon at Chippenham Hospital, said the goal was clear.
- “Don’t let this injury define the rest of her life,” Drake said.
Elisabeth’s return to HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital was to participate in their Trauma Survivors Event, where she shared her story of resilience and recovery.
“Their main purpose with me was to put me back together and get me out of the hospital and home to my family,” Elisabeth said. “And I’m so thankful to each and every one of them for the part that they played.”
Dr. Ho reflected on Elisabeth’s journey and recovery.
- “Seeing Lis and how far she’s come to now is incredibly rewarding for not just myself, but everyone that was involved in her care. Her resilience is absolutely inspiring,” Dr. Ho said.
Elisabeth offered advice to others facing life-changing experiences.
“My advice to anybody who’s going through a life changing experience is that you allow yourself to be sad and cry about it and mourn the old you, because you should,” she said. “You have to feel those feelings. But after you’ve done your mourning, think about the positive, the upside of what your life is. My upside is that I am alive.”
7 Responses
An unbelievable story of rescue and recovery through such a traumatic real life event ! The fact that Elisabeth chose to share her story is so admirable & heartwarming all wrapped up in such resilience.
Thank You & God Bless Elisabeth
Why are women NOT being warned to stay out of the water during their monthly period and for a few days after? It should be common sense, but it’s not. Reading about exactly where she was first attacked tells the story and the fact that the shark only attacked women that day says it all.
There is no evidence supporting the theory that sharks are attracted to period blood. They actually aren’t attracted to human blood anyway. There is, however, evidence that they’re attracted to shiny things. Some shark attack victims have noted they had on jewelry or shiny pieces (like metal rings) on their swimwear.
You should take some time to research this because sharks do not go after a woman who is on her menstrual cycle. That is 100% not accurate.
Good grief. Where does it say anything like that about any of the victims? Geesh. 🙄
That has hot to be the most absurd assumption I’ve heard in my 53 years on this earth! No where in the article does it mention that any of these survivors were menstruating ar the time of their attacks. So why you would leap to such a conclusion is beyond any sound logic or reason. Just because all the attacks were on females that day doesn’t logically lead to your erroneous conclusion.
Why are we talking about menstrual cycle. It is a story of true grit and determination to move forward and find joy in day to day interaction in spite of the horrific injury.