Lulu Gribbin has a prosthetic leg and hand. Her shirt explains: Before you ask: It was a shark. Inspired by her own struggles, the teen advocated for emergency alerts to mobile phones when sharks bite.
President Donald Trump signed “Lulu’s Law” into effect in late June. It requires the Federal Communications Commission to allow for warning broadcasts when shark attacks occur. Lulu’s home state, Alabama, approved the warning system last year.
Lulu was 15 when she took a mother-daughter trip to the Florida Panhandle in the summer of 2024. She and a friend went diving for sand dollars.
Neither knew a woman had been bitten by a shark 90 minutes earlier just three miles down the beach. Lulu was one of three people bitten in the region on June 7.
Lulu says had she known about the earlier attack, she would not have been swimming.
Lulu’s friend first spotted the creature. The two tried to swim to shore. Lulu remembered that sharks can be attracted to frantic splashing. She urged everyone to stay calm. She was closest to the bull shark when it bit down on her left hand. The shark then latched on to her right leg.
A man punched the shark off her and strangers rushed to help. A helicopter flew Lulu to a nearby hospital. Doctors saved her life but had to amputate part of her leg. Lulu then began the road to recovery.
The teen struggled with her new physical limitations. “I would ask my mom, ‘Why is it happening to me?’ And on that day, we put a Bible verse on my bedside table that said, ‘With God, all things are possible.’”
Lulu’s mom told her that what she looks like doesn’t define her: “It’s who you are on the inside.”
Lulu quickly regained her ability to walk. She returned to sports, got her driver’s license, and even learned to surf. She worked with Alabama senator Katie Britt to sponsor legislation to create a shark alert system.
Gavin Naylor is the director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program. He notes that shark attacks are rare. The probability of a shark biting multiple times is “incredibly small.” Sometimes sharks follow schools of bait fish closer to shore. Murky water also can cause sharks to mistake a person for a fish or seal.
Lulu hopes the alert system helps prevent attacks like hers. “I’m really excited to hopefully save lives,” she says.
Why? Our responses to losses can bless others. We become aware of needs and ways to advocate that can protect fellow image-bearers.
