Community Corner
Woman Attacked By Shark At Camp Pendleton Beach Is 'Fighting For Life'
Breaking: Leeanne Ericson, a mother of three from Vista, was in the water at San Onofre beach Saturday when a shark tore into her leg.
CAMP PENDLETON, CA -- A mother of three from Vista was "fighting for her life" in a trauma center Monday in the aftermath of a San Onofre-area shark attack in which she lost much of her right leg and nearly drowned.
Leeanne Ericson, 35, was swimming in the surf off the coast of Camp Pendleton about 6:30 p.m. Saturday when a shark tore off the back of her thigh "from her glute to her knee," her mother, Christine McKnerney Leidle, wrote on a GoFundMe.com page set up to help defray the victim's medical costs.
"She's now in Scripps Memorial Hospital (La Jolla) fighting for her life," McKnerney Leidle wrote.
Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Ericson, who was placed in a medically induced coma, "has a long (road) ahead with several surgeries to go," her mother stated.
Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
More than $24,000 had been donated to the victim via the web page by late Monday afternoon.
Authorities closed the beach in an area known as "Church" and were warning residents and visitors to stay out of the water. The site was expected to reopen to the public Wednesday morning, according to Camp Pendleton officials.
The attack -- believed to have been carried out by a great white or a sevengill shark -- was only the 11th recorded in the area in the past seven decades. The most recent fatal shark attack in San Diego County was off Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach in 2008.
By City News Service
Image via Gofundme.com
