Shark attack survivor Lulu Gribbin shares her story with Monday Morning Quarterback Club
On June 9, 2024, her mother Ann Blair Gribbin wrote on the Caring Bridge website that the shark had bitten off her daughter's left hand, and they had to amputate her right leg from her knee to her hip. The Mountain Brook High School student shared her story with the Monday Morning Quarterback Club and with local news outlets for the first time on Thursday.
Gribbin had been invited to appear as the keynote speaker as the Club announced $2.4 million in grants to 34 nonprofits during their Next Level Impact luncheon. The 16-year-old told reporters she is excited to have just gotten her driver's license after taking an adaptive driving class.
Gribbin shared about what happened on June 7, and how she hopes to use her experience to help other amputees.
'Imagine looking down at your hand and there's nothing there, just flesh and bone,' she stated.
Gribbin explained that she and her friends had been in the water diving for sand dollars when life changed in an instant.
'As we were riding the waves in,' she noted, 'I turned around and heard my best friend scream, 'shark'.'
Gribbin said her hand was bitten off, and the shark latched onto her leg. She was rescued and flown to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola where her mom said the first words she spoke after the breathing tube was removed were 'I made it.'
Gribbin shared with the audience what she meant by that expression during her keynote address:
'Through the pain, agony, sorrow and grief I made it,' she said.
'I pushed myself, because I wanted to do it for those who didn't make it; I chose to fight.'
Now the young woman said she's utilizing the facilities at Children's of Alabama. She's also launching the Lulu Strong Foundation.
'Through my foundation I would love to have kids be able to experience what I've experienced and have just an amazing life an amputee,' she said.
Still standing by her man, Richard Scrushy's wife insinuates Satanic conspiracy in prosecution of former HealthSouth CEO
Gribbin wants to figure out a way to help amputees get prosthetics faster, and to make them lighter weight.
She demonstrated the use of her new prosthetic hand for reporters:
'So I can turn it in circles, and I can close it and open it,' Gribbin said.
The technology has different modes which allows her to pick up different items. On Thursday we also heard from 17-year-old McCray Faust who was with Gribbin in the water that day:
'I was bit on my lower leg in the arch of my foot,' Faust explained. 'It severed all the ligaments and nerves in the bottom of my foot.'
She said she also had to be taken to the same hospital in Panama City as Gribbin and had surgery on her foot. Faust added that she's worked hard to learn how to walk again. She and Lulu's twin sister Ellie Gribbin plan to form a junior board to host events for the foundation, along with other friends who were with them on that fateful day.
Their first event will involve golf, now that Lulu has fallen in love with the sport. When she was asked what message she would like to share with the world she had this to say:
'Never give up and stay positive, even in the most challenging times.'
The last thing Lulu told reporters was she would not change things for the better:
'I've had so many amazing opportunities and I'm just so glad to be blessed by the Lord, and all my family and friends behind me.'
Ellie Gribbin talked about the role of faith in this journey:
'It's all a part of God's plan,' she said. 'God put every person there for a reason and he just worked in so many ways that day, and still works in ways today.'
For more information on her foundation, click here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Gun deaths among children rise in states with lax firearm laws, new study finds
Gun deaths among children have risen over a 13-year period in states with lax firearm laws, according to a new study published this week in JAMA Pediatrics, a peer-reviewed medical journal. Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho and Georgia were among the states that saw a jump in pediatric gun deaths after amending their firearms restrictions following a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that applied the Second Amendment to the states, researchers found. Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency room doctor at Massachusetts General Brigham Hospital and the study's lead author, said he started the research after wondering why gun deaths among children were so high. Firearms are the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in the United States, with a steep increase in ages 15 to 19 starting in 2020. "Why did things go so badly in some states?" Faust asked. He said legal scholars told him to look at McDonald v. City of Chicago, which applied the Second Amendment to local jurisdictions. The Supreme Court held in the landmark case that the Constitution's Second Amendment restrains the government's ability to significantly limit "the right to keep and bear arms." For the first decade of the 21st century, there were very few changes to gun laws but every state changed their laws to some or great extent after McDonald, said Faust. Researchers divided the 50 states into three groups — most permissive, permissive, and strict — based on legal changes made since 2010. The team, which included researchers from Brown University, Yale New Haven, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, used a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database to analyze data from the decade before the Supreme Court ruling and then compared that to data from 2011 to 2023. The findings surprised Faust and his team, he told CBS News. Youth deaths jumped by 7,398 in the period after the Supreme Court ruling — with a total of 23,000 gun-related fatalities. Children's deaths by both homicide and suicide also rose in states that had the most permissive firearm laws, the study found. Black youth also saw the largest increase in firearm deaths in the most permissive and permissive states. The CDC found in 2023 that the vast majority of firearm deaths involving young children were due to guns that were stored unlocked and loaded. But Faust said that while gun storage is an important part of saving lives, the study shows strict laws play an enormous role in preventing youth firearms deaths. In the states that had the most restrictive laws, deaths remained stable or, in some cases, there were fewer pediatric gun deaths. California had a 40% reduction in children's gun deaths, the study found. New York, Rhode Island, Maryland and Massachusetts also saw a decrease. "This study shows the problem is linked pretty tightly to legal posture. This can be fixed and bring back thousands of people," Faust said. "States should ask what they want for their communities? What are they willing to do to save lives?" Gun advocates like Emma Brown, the executive director of Giffords — an anti-gun violence group led by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was shot in the head in 2011 during a constituent meeting — applauded the study's findings. "Guns are the leading cause of death for kids and young people in the United States, and now more kids are dying because some states prioritize making gun CEOs richer over fighting crime and building safe communities," Brown said. "This study shows what we all know: common sense gun laws save lives." CBS News has reached out to the Second Amendment Foundation, one of the plaintiffs in McDonald V. City of Chicago, for comment. An accused woman skips her pedicure, kills her ex-husband Watch California Gov. Gavin Newsom's full speech on federal response to Los Angeles protests LAPD chief speaks out about deployment of military forces to anti-ICE protests
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Alabama hemp businesses bracing for impact with crackdown weeks away
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — Hemp companies in Alabama said they are working hard to abide by new state regulations. Those regulations will take effect in the form of a new law July 1. Hemp companies said it will kill small businesses, while the sponsor said it's long overdue. 'They're kind of pulling the rug out from under us and going backwards in the industry,' said Blake Gamberi, owner of Dry Creek Wellness in Glencoe. 'I'm sorry to those folks who it's going to be negatively affecting for sure,' said Carmelo Parasiliti, owner of Green Acres Organic Pharms in Florence. The crackdown caps THC levels to 10 milligrams per serving in a product and bans it for people under 21. The original bill sponsor, state Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, said gas stations have become pharmacies for some people. 'Anytime that you have to reach between the motor oil and the beef jerky to get a product that you're going to smoke and/or take to medicate or get high, that is not good for the state of Alabama,' Whitt said. Gamberi said the new law is confusing, but they are working to get their products in compliance. 'We got high hopes that they'll get everything in line and make it where we don't have to close our doors …,' Gamberi said. 'It's a very short time period to adjust something that you've done over four or five years, even longer than that.' Parasiliti said they are keeping their doors open but moving some of their business to other states. 'It's a lot of work ahead of us, but we're going to keep going and keep trying,' Parasiliti said. Alabama Department of Public Health determines there are no active measles cases in the state David Beck, owner of The Humble Hemp Shack in Gadsden, said it will probably have to close down altogether. 'It's a very scary feeling, and a scary feeling for our customers as well,' Beck said. Whitt said those customers will now be able to get a product that is safely tested by a third party. He said the law does not legalize marijuana but does not ban hemp products. 'It was time to get these products under control for the safety of our citizens and the safety of our kids and get a handle on it,' Whitt said. 'It lets there be an authority that can actually oversee this product.' Whitt said that authority, the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, will soon release guidelines for businesses on how it will enforce the law. Products outlined in the law will be banned July 1. Whitt said businesses will be able to start the licensing process to sell hemp products with the ABC Board in January. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Alabama Department of Public Health determines there are no active measles cases in the state
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Following an investigation of an unvaccinated person believed to have had the measles, the Alabama Department of Public Health has concluded that there are no active measles cases in the state. On Saturday, the ADPH began an investigation regarding a person in Lee County regarding a possible exposure to the measles. By Tuesday, PCR testing was reported as negative. 'Due to the extremely contagious risk of measles in unvaccinated persons, ADPH regularly launches preliminary investigations on suspected cases, while testing is in process, to ensure that vulnerable people are informed and protected,' the ADPH said on Facebook Tuesday. At the time, the unvaccinated person was reportedly too young to have received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. 'While ADPH has determined that this is not a case of measles, I urge all Alabamians to be vigilant in ensuring that eligible persons are up to date on the MMR vaccine,' ADPH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Landers said in the statement. 'The MMR vaccine is safe and effective. High rates of MMR vaccine in our state will protect our children, our families, and our citizens from this severe and deadly disease.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.