13-Year-Old Girl Recalls Fighting Off Shark After Being Bitten in Arms, Leg and Stomach

Photo: NBC

A 13-year-old girl passionate about marine biology is staying relentless after fighting off a shark during a vicious attack that left her with 19 stitches.

The incident occurred while eighth-grader Ella Reed was swimming with a friend at a beach in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Thursday.

“I remember just breathing really heavily, and then when it latched onto my stomach, not being able to breathe at all because I was just like, ‘What the heck is happening?'” she recalled in aninterview withTodayabout the experience.

According to Reed, the shark, which she believes was a bull shark, began attacking her arm after she attempted to fight it off while advising her friend to head for safety.

“It bit me in the stomach first. And right as it bit me in the stomach, I shoved my arm where it was biting me so it didn’t get my stomach, and it got my arm instead,” she continued. “Then I hit it with my other hand, like hit its nose or its face.”

Ella toldTodayshe “was doing everything I could to get it off me.”

“It was all instinct but like when you’re in the moment, you don’t really think to do those things,” Ella said. “I didn’t even mean to hit it in the nose, I was just trying to hit it anywhere.”

Her mom, Devin Reed, shared withTodaythat she did not believe the attack took place until witnessing her daughter’s wounds on FaceTime.

“At first, I thought she was joking actually, and then she says, ‘I’m not joking!’ And she took the camera, and she panned it on her body, and I kind of just froze and freaked out,” she said. “Her first thing was to tell her friend to run, not ask for help. She was saving her friend.”

NBC

“I thought that would be much quicker and better for her, to get her in the best hands as quick as possible,” explained Devin.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

While the experience left Ella with five stitches on her torso, 14 stitches on her leg, and trouble sleeping, her mom toldTodayduring their interview that Ella was ready to return to the water.

“She’s like, ‘If I went through it, I’m going to show people,'” said Devin.

source: people.com