Mother of teen shark attack victim provides updates on her recovery
Video above: Alabama doctor shares experience of trying to save teen after shark attack
Three people are continuing to heal after being injured Friday in two separate shark attacks along Florida's Gulf Coast.
The attacks happened just four miles and 90 minutes apart.
The second attack happened to two teens. The mother of Lulu Gribbin has been sharing her story on to shed light on what happened and the recovery process.
The most recent updates are at the top.
July 9
Lulu's mom wrote that the cords were taken out of her leg and that she is making great strides in her recovery process.
She was reportedly able to stand on her own and even transitioned from her bed to a chair and back.
She continues to be treated by a revolving door of doctors with different specialties, from physical therapy to psychology.
Lulu was also able to speak with another patient who lost her hands as well as a leg. She was able to walk Lulu through using prosthetics and gave her extremely helpful advice for the road ahead.
July 6
Lulu spent several days being watched over by her aunt as her parents returned home to take care of her siblings.
The two talked about the upcoming Paralympics and how Lulu would one day like to compete in volleyball, basketball, tennis or even golf. She also talked about her aspirations to one day become a doctor and work to cure the phantom pains that many amputees deal with.
June 20
It's been two steps forward and one step back for the Gribbin family this week, wrote Ann.
Ellie, Lulu's sister, has been playing in a volleyball tournament, and in one of the hardest moments of the last few weeks, Ann decided to fly out and support her as her own sister stayed behind with Lulu.
While Ann was gone, Lulu had the opportunity to meet another shark attack survivor who was fitted with a bionic hand similar to the one she herself will soon have.
Not only was she able to sit up and do her physical therapy, but she also laid on her stomach for the first time since June 7.
However, due to a fluid buildup, Lulu will soon have yet another surgery on her leg to flush out bacteria.
Two steps forward, one step back.
June 18
Ann Gribbin wrote a journal entry saying this day was a day of milestones for Lulu.
She said hospital workers helped Lulu get to the edge of the bed, and then, with some support, Lulu was pulled up and standing for the first time since the shark attack.
Gribbin also wrote Lulu was able to get into a wheelchair and was taken out of her hospital room to visit some therapy dogs.
June 12
Anne Gribbin wrote that she and Lulu were being airlifted to another hospital after speaking with a specialist for multi-extremity amputees.
She said the rest of the surgeries and rehab are set to be done at another hospital and thanked all of the people who helped save her daughter.
>> WHAT WE KNOW: The shark attacks on the Gulf Coast
June 10
As she recovers, Lulu's mom says she is still herself.
"Nothing about her personality or funny, smart, loving self has changed one bit," Anne Gribbin wrote in a blog post on June 10. "She may have lost her hand and her leg, but she is here, and we are truly grateful for that."
June 9
"After lunch, we were walking back on the beach to the girls and everyone on the beach was standing looking out into the water," Anne Blair Gribbin wrote. "No one was in the water and all we heard was there was a shark and we started to look as well.
"My friend called both her daughters and they were not answering so she started to panic and said there is something wrong and started running and so we all did.
"The beach was packed with people just looking. I came up on a group of people surrounding someone on the ground and looked down and it was Lulu who was there."
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 2 Mountain Brook teens and woman seriously injured in back-to-back shark attacks along Florida Gulf Coast
Lulu Gribbin was in surgery when the family made it to the hospital, and her mother stated that they were told her hand had been bitten off, her leg had been amputated and she lost 2/3 of the blood in her body.
Her first words out of surgery, her mother said, were, "I made it."
There were several people who helped save her life, Anne Gribbin said.
"Lulu said a man grabbed her other arm and pulled her out and another younger boy helped him carry her to shore," Anne Gribbon said in her post. "Once on the shore, there were two doctors and two other young women one of whom was a nurse who were all surrounding Lulu. These individuals put tourniquets on Lulu's wounds."
Community support
Two local stores are selling merchandise to help in the recovery of Lulu Gribbin.
>> Mountain Brook supports shark attack victims with purple ribbons