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Indianapolis Star
29-06-2025
- Indianapolis Star
Man who helped Florida girl bitten by shark may be facing deportation
A man who ran into the water to help a 9-year-old girl after she was bitten by a shark in Florida may be facing deportation after he was arrested and accused of driving without a license days after the attack. Luis Alvarez, 31, of Lehigh Acres, in Lee County, Florida, around 140 miles northwest of Miami, was stopped about 1:30 a.m. on June 14 after police say he was driving without his headlights on. He was driving a gray SUV with a Rhode Island tag, according to the Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report. Court records indicate he is being held in jail by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to reporting from the Fort Myers News-Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. He is scheduled to go before a judge on July 9. USA TODAY has reached out to ICE for more information. On the day of the arrest, at around 1:30 a.m. local time, police say Alvarez was driving a car without its headlights on when he was pulled over. When asked for his license, Alvarez called up a picture of his Employment Authorization Card on his phone. He told the arresting officer in Spanish that he had been in the country for two-and-a-half years and had never had a driver's license, according to the arrest report. Alvarez was arrested on a charge of driving without a license and was issued a warning for not having his headlights on. The arrest report said Alvarez is from Boaco, Nicaragua. Court records indicate he is being held in jail by ICE. Court records indicate Alvarez has no arrest history in Collier County. He was arrested on similar charges of not having a valid driver's license four times in Lee County, dating back to December 2023. Lee County is located in southwest Florida along the Gulf Coast. He paid fines or had adjudication withheld by three different judges. In the most recent case, the judge issued a D6 suspension on June 23, meaning since Alvarez had not paid his fine, he was unable to apply for a license. Alvarez was on the beach and ran into the water to help on June 11 when Leah Lendel, 9, was bitten by a shark. Lendel's hand was nearly severed after the attack, which happened in the ocean a few feet off the beach in Boca Grande, Florida. Lendel's hand was nearly severed, but fast action at the scene and an airlift to Tampa General Hospital allowed surgeons to reattach her hand. She is recovering. Alvarez went into the water first to scare the shark, her sister Raynel Lugo, who also helped during the rescue, said in an interview with Fox4 News. "He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah," said Lugo in the Fox4 interview. "He went deep underwater, not even caring about the shark. He went really deep. He probably faced the shark." Body camera footage from a Lee County Sheriff's Office Deputy who responded to the call shows the three men standing next to the water as Leah was being treated by EMS. Alvarez, through an interpreter, told first responders it looked like about an eight-foot shark. Experts later said it was possibly a bull shark, one of the more aggressive sharks in Florida waters.
Indianapolis Star
29-06-2025
- Indianapolis Star
Man who helped Florida girl bitten by shark may be facing deportation
A man who ran into the water to help a 9-year-old girl after she was bitten by a shark in Florida may be facing deportation after he was arrested and accused of driving without a license days after the attack. Luis Alvarez, 31, of Lehigh Acres, in Lee County, Florida, around 140 miles northwest of Miami, was stopped about 1:30 a.m. on June 14 after police say he was driving without his headlights on. He was driving a gray SUV with a Rhode Island tag, according to the Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report. Court records indicate he is being held in jail by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to reporting from the Fort Myers News-Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. He is scheduled to go before a judge on July 9. USA TODAY has reached out to ICE for more information. On the day of the arrest, at around 1:30 a.m. local time, police say Alvarez was driving a car without its headlights on when he was pulled over. When asked for his license, Alvarez called up a picture of his Employment Authorization Card on his phone. He told the arresting officer in Spanish that he had been in the country for two-and-a-half years and had never had a driver's license, according to the arrest report. Alvarez was arrested on a charge of driving without a license and was issued a warning for not having his headlights on. The arrest report said Alvarez is from Boaco, Nicaragua. Court records indicate he is being held in jail by ICE. Court records indicate Alvarez has no arrest history in Collier County. He was arrested on similar charges of not having a valid driver's license four times in Lee County, dating back to December 2023. Lee County is located in southwest Florida along the Gulf Coast. He paid fines or had adjudication withheld by three different judges. In the most recent case, the judge issued a D6 suspension on June 23, meaning since Alvarez had not paid his fine, he was unable to apply for a license. Alvarez was on the beach and ran into the water to help on June 11 when Leah Lendel, 9, was bitten by a shark. Lendel's hand was nearly severed after the attack, which happened in the ocean a few feet off the beach in Boca Grande, Florida. Lendel's hand was nearly severed, but fast action at the scene and an airlift to Tampa General Hospital allowed surgeons to reattach her hand. She is recovering. Alvarez went into the water first to scare the shark, her sister Raynel Lugo, who also helped during the rescue, said in an interview with Fox4 News. "He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah," said Lugo in the Fox4 interview. "He went deep underwater, not even caring about the shark. He went really deep. He probably faced the shark." Body camera footage from a Lee County Sheriff's Office Deputy who responded to the call shows the three men standing next to the water as Leah was being treated by EMS. Alvarez, through an interpreter, told first responders it looked like about an eight-foot shark. Experts later said it was possibly a bull shark, one of the more aggressive sharks in Florida waters.
USA Today
29-06-2025
- USA Today
Man who helped Florida girl bitten by shark may be facing deportation
A man who ran into the water to help a 9-year-old girl after she was bitten by a shark in Florida may be facing deportation after he was arrested and accused of driving without a license days after the attack. Luis Alvarez, 31, of Lehigh Acres, in Lee County, Florida, around 140 miles northwest of Miami, was stopped about 1:30 a.m. on June 14 after police say he was driving without his headlights on. He was driving a gray SUV with a Rhode Island tag, according to the Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report. Court records indicate he is being held in jail by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to reporting from the Fort Myers News-Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. He is scheduled to go before a judge on July 9. USA TODAY has reached out to ICE for more information. Why was Alvarez arrested? On the day of the arrest, at around 1:30 a.m. local time, police say Alvarez was driving a car without its headlights on when he was pulled over. When asked for his license, Alvarez called up a picture of his Employment Authorization Card on his phone. He told the arresting officer in Spanish that he had been in the country for two-and-a-half years and had never had a driver's license, according to the arrest report. Alvarez was arrested on a charge of driving without a license and was issued a warning for not having his headlights on. The arrest report said Alvarez is from Boaco, Nicaragua. Court records indicate he is being held in jail by ICE. Alvarez previously arrested in different Florida county Court records indicate Alvarez has no arrest history in Collier County. He was arrested on similar charges of not having a valid driver's license four times in Lee County, dating back to December 2023. Lee County is located in southwest Florida along the Gulf Coast. He paid fines or had adjudication withheld by three different judges. In the most recent case, the judge issued a D6 suspension on June 23, meaning since Alvarez had not paid his fine, he was unable to apply for a license. Alvarez ran in to help girl attacked by shark Alvarez was on the beach and ran into the water to help on June 11 when Leah Lendel, 9, was bitten by a shark. Lendel's hand was nearly severed after the attack, which happened in the ocean a few feet off the beach in Boca Grande, Florida. Lendel's hand was nearly severed, but fast action at the scene and an airlift to Tampa General Hospital allowed surgeons to reattach her hand. She is recovering. Alvarez went into the water first to scare the shark, her sister Raynel Lugo, who also helped during the rescue, said in an interview with Fox4 News. "He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah," said Lugo in the Fox4 interview. "He went deep underwater, not even caring about the shark. He went really deep. He probably faced the shark." Body camera footage from a Lee County Sheriff's Office Deputy who responded to the call shows the three men standing next to the water as Leah was being treated by EMS. Alvarez, through an interpreter, told first responders it looked like about an eight-foot shark. Experts later said it was possibly a bull shark, one of the more aggressive sharks in Florida waters. Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn,X, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@
Miami Herald
14-06-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
9-year-old girl bitten by shark has ‘miracle' surgery at Florida hospital
A 9-year-old girl whose hand was nearly severed in a shark bite is now able to move all her fingers, according to a social media post from her family. The girl, Leah Lendel, was snorkeling off the coast of Boca Grande on Wednesday when the incident occurred, her family shared online. Boca Grande Fire Chief C.W. Blosser told the Tampa Bay Times that Lendel was pulled from the water by bystanders and carried to a nearby road parallel to the beach. Blosser said emergency responders from Lee County Emergency Medical Services and the Boca Grande Fire Department arranged for air transport within ten minutes of arriving at the scene. Lendel was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, the region's only Level I trauma center. MORE: Shark attacks 9-year-old girl swimming off Florida's Gulf Coast, rescuers say According to updates shared on Instagram and in a public statement from the family, the shark bite left Lendel's wrist 'hanging on by just the skin.' Her mother, Nadia Lendel, wrote that surgeons inserted pins to stabilize her broken bones and transferred arteries from her leg to help restore blood flow to her hand. 'She thought she would lose her hand for good,' her mother posted. Leah underwent a lengthy surgery on Wednesday, according to the statement from her family. By the next morning, doctors restored movement in two of Lendel's fingers, though the rest of her hand remained numb, the statement said. Lendel's mother shared another update on social media Friday morning, saying that Lendel could move all her fingers and calling it a 'miracle.' She added that doctors decided Lendel did not need sedation and would change her cast to monitor the healing process. Blosser said shark bites are uncommon in the waters by Boca Grande, about 100 miles south of Tampa on Gasparilla Island. The last reported shark bite in the area occurred about five years ago, when a man was bitten after falling from a boat, he said. He said the risk can rise during tarpon season, when game fish draw sharks closer to shore. There's always some risk in Gulf waters, he said. 'But this is a very isolated incident.'
Global News
12-06-2025
- Health
- Global News
9-year-old girl flown to hospital after being bitten by shark in Florida
A nine-year-old girl was seriously injured after an encounter with a shark off the Florida coast while on vacation with her family. Leah Lendel was snorkelling with her family in Boca Grande when she was bitten by a shark, estimated by witnesses to be about eight feet long. According to a statement from Lendel's family to Gulf Coast News, Leah went underwater to snorkel and as she came up, she began to scream. Her mother, Nadia, said she noticed that Leah's right hand up to the wrist was covered in blood and mostly torn off. Nadia said she began to scream for help and nearby construction workers rushed over and helped wrap Leah's hand in a towel. A local construction worker named Alfonso Tello told Today that he heard Lendel's screams coming from the beach. Story continues below advertisement 'I was thinking that they were playing around but they were screaming, 'Help, help!' and that's when we get up there and we see the little girl crying. Everybody was in shock,' Tello told the outlet. 'When we saw the little girl coming out of the water with no hand, it was like something out of a … it gets me like … everybody was in shock.' The Boca Grande Fire Department, the Lee County Sheriff's Department and emergency services in Boca Grande responded to a call about a potential shark bite on Wednesday. In a video shared to Facebook, Boca Grande Fire Chief C.W. Blosser said crews found a person with injuries 'that appeared to be consistent with a shark bite.' 'The person was treated and transported to a landing zone and airlifted to, we think, Tampa General Hospital for the person's injuries,' he said. 'The person was in the water at the time the bite occurred with other family members and they were able to get her out of the water and up to the road.' Blosser added that this incident was the first shark bite on the island in 'about 20 years.' Story continues below advertisement Lendel's mother shared an update on Instagram on Thursday and said that surgeons were able to put her daughter's hand back together. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Update on Our sweet Leah. Yesterday she had a very long surgery to save her hand (her wrists and fingers). Praise God Almighty for the Doctors, they were able to get blood flow to her entire hand and all of her fingers,' she wrote. Lendel added that the doctors had to 'put pins to put all her bones together and take arteries from her leg to put in her hand.' 'From what I saw and the way her hand was hanging on by a thread i thought she would lose her hand for good but our God is a miracle maker,' she added. View image in full screen An update about Leah Lendel's injuries, shared by her mother on Instagram. / Instagram One of Lendel's relatives, Max Derinskiy, has set up a GoFundMe page to help support the family after the 'life-altering event.' Story continues below advertisement 'While playing in the water with her siblings, she was bitten on her hand by a shark and had to be rushed to the hospital by Life Flight. We're thankful to Jesus for the quick response of emergency crews and the skill of the medical team, she is now stable and going through surgery – fighting hard for her road to recovery,' Derinskiy wrote. He added that while the family is 'beyond grateful' that Lendel survived, 'the journey ahead will be long and full of physical and emotional healing.' 'The Life Flight alone comes with an overwhelming medical bill, not to mention the ongoing care she will need: possible surgeries, physical therapy, counseling, and more,' Derinskiy added. Derinskiy said the GoFundMe will help to 'relieve some of the financial burden on her family during this unimaginable time as they do not currently have insurance.' 'Every donation —big or small—will go directly to medical expenses, travel costs for treatment, and anything else Leah needs to recover and feel herself again,' Derinskiy wrote. The GoFundMe post has raised more than US$26,400 of its goal of $80,000 from 167 donations as of Thursday afternoon. Story continues below advertisement A similar situation took place in February when a Canadian tourist was seriously injured when she was bitten while trying to 'engage' with a shark in Turks and Caicos. The family of the tourist spoke out about the horrifying moment that 'completely altered' the woman's life after she 'attempted to engage with the animal from the shallows in an attempt to take photographs' on Friday, Feb. 7. The victim's brother-in-law, Al Chevarie, said that while they were in 'only hip deep clear water,' a 'seven-foot bull shark came at my sister-in-law and bumped into her legs.' He said the shark came back again and 'when she put both hands in front of her to protect herself, the shark cut off both of her hands, one at the mid forearm and the other at the wrist.' Chevarie said his sister-in-law was taken to a local hospital for initial treatment 'but had to be flown back to Canada by air ambulance to undergo further surgery and recovery.'
