Shark attack victim describes encounter

INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH, Fla., June 1 (UPI) -- A 38-year-old Florida woman who was attacked by a shark in May said she felt "a really hard bump" before feeling her "leg being torn."

Amy Tatsch was boogie boarding with her brother near Melbourne Beach, Fla., on May 15 when a shark attacked her, taking a large bite out of her right calf.

The mother of six was recently released from the hospital after two weeks of surgeries, WKMG-TV, Orlando, Fla., reported.

"(I) can't get up and around, but it's so much nicer to be home and be able to be outside," Tatsch said from her Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., home.

"We caught a couple of waves. He caught one and I drifted down a little farther with the current so I was a little farther away and the next wave that was coming up, I was ready," she said of the attack. "I kicked off with my right leg to give me some momentum to ride in and that's when I got bumped."

The bite tore her Achilles tendon and nearly ripped her calf off. A doctor estimated that based on the size of her injuries, the shark was likely about 7 feet long. Tatsch said she thinks it was a bull shark.

"It was a really hard bump and then seconds after I felt my leg being torn and then I felt the motion of something big swimming away," she said.