Courageous Brother Jumps In To Save The Life Of His Sister From A Shark Who ‘Severely Injured’ Her

Jan 31, 2023

It's not uncommon for siblings to fight from time to time. Those who grew up with a sibling can have one way or another experience of what it feels like to get into a fight with another sibling. But as they say, blood is thicker than water. No matter what kind of fight siblings get into, the love for family always prevails. Unlike friends who come and go, siblings will always be there through thick and thin. Plus, they will always be there no matter what happens. Take it from two siblings who have proven their love for one another after one of them saved the life of the other.

In June 2022, Addison Bethea of Perry, Florida, was attacked by a shark. The Taylor County Sherriff's Office revealed that Bethea was bitten by the shark while scalloping 5 feet deep in Keaton Beach, according to WCTV.

Bethea recalled what happened that day and shared her reaction after seeing the shark. She thought it was her brother next to her, but it turned out that it wasn't.

"And the next thing I know something latches onto my leg and I was like that's not right. And then I look and it's a big old shark," Addison told "Good Morning America" in an interview in July 2022.

Instead of panicking, she thought of a way to fight back at the 9-feet shark but failed to do it.

"Then I remember from watching the Animal Planet to like...punch (it) in the nose or something like that. And I couldn't get around to his nose the way he bit me," she added.

Thankfully, her brother Rhett Willingham – who works as a firefighter and medical technician – was around to help her out.

Willingham, who saw his sister drenched in blood, said he had also seen the shark which bit his sister.

"She came back up and I saw, like, the blood and everything, and I saw the shark," Willingham said in the same interview with "Good Morning America."

Bethea's brother did not waste any time as he tried to keep her away from the shark as fast as he could and asked for help.

"So then I swam over there, grabbed her, and then pushed them all, kind of trying to separate them. And he just kept coming. So I grabbed her, swam backwards and kicked him and then yelled for help," Willingham remarked.

After Willingham successfully managed to stop the bleeding, a kind-hearted person helped bring them back to the beach.

Since Bethea suffered serious injuries, she had to be airlifted to a hospital in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, in a Facebook post back in July 2022, said Bethea suffered "devastating damage to the soft tissue in the right leg."

"It was devastating, a nasty, nasty wound. The vascular surgeon took the vein from the left leg and turned it into an artery for the right leg to get blood flow," Bethea's father, Shane Addison, told Daily Mail.

But the trauma team managed to stabilize her blood flow, and the emergency surgeon performed surgery. Days later, she underwent another surgery.

Bethea also had to be admitted to an intensive care unit as part of her recovery.

Meanwhile, Bethea's father recalled the moment his daughter woke up, sharing the first thing his daughter requested from him.

"When she woke up, she was intubated and unable to speak. We gave her our cell phone and she wrote that she wanted a 'Frosty from Wendy's,'" he said.

What can you say about the bravery of Rhett Willingham in saving the life of his sister? Let us know what you think, and pass this on to your family and friends who might love to read this story!