Shark attack in NC: teenage girl Paige Winter has an amputated leg; Dad "hit the shark in the face 5 times," says his grandmother

Atlantic Beach, N.C. – A 17 year old who was attacked by a shark on the coast of North Carolina during the weekend, she had an amputated leg. Paige Winter High School junior on Monday issued a statement to the Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, thanking people for helping her after Sunday's attack at Fort Macon National Park.

Winter said that while she had many injuries, including sores on her hands, "it's okay." She goes back to Empty and said that she will require more surgeries. She said that she would continue to remain positive and grateful that it would not be worse.

In a statement on a GoFundMe page, Winter's family thanked "the people on the beach who helped and his heroic father who saved his life". The teenage grandmother wrote in a Facebook post that her father, Charlie Winter, "said that he had hit the shark in the face five times before letting him go."

The hospital describes the teenager as "an unshakable defender" of marine life and says Winter "wants people to continue to respect sharks in their environment and their safety".

Last week, a California man died after being attacked by a shark while swimming in Hawaii. One witness said that he was missing a leg when he was sent to shore.

Last month, a group of massive white sharks – some of whose researchers have been tracking for more than a decade – gathered about 30 kilometers off the Carolinas.