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Lulu Gribbin was an ordinary teenage girl before she was savagely attacked by a shark while on an enjoyable beach day with friends.

The teenager was taking a delightful mother-daughter trip to Florida's Seacrest Beach with pal when the unthinkable event occurred.

Their holiday to the Gulf Coast saw her and her friends swimming and diving, searching for sand dollars, when the shark struck like something from a horror film.

Lulu recalls the moment they were swimming and her friend screamed, "Shark!" She explains at that moment they were all simply swimming for their lives, not really thinking about what was unfolding.

Although remembering something she was taught, the teenager tried her best to stay calm, as she was told sharks typically target things moving frantically in the water.

She told People Magazine about the exact moment she realised that may not have been the correct decision after all.

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"So I calmed down, and then I lifted my arm out of the water, and I could see like the flesh on my arm. And that's when I realised... this was a very real situation," she explained.

The remainder of it was a blur, as she lost consciousness in the water. All that she can recall from those terrifying moments was waking up on the shore, in the Florida heat, surrounded by people who were attempting to save her life.

Anna Blair, Lulu's devastated mother, had popped out for lunch with the other mums, and as they were heading back, that was when they realised something wasn't quite right. The girls weren't responding to their phones, and in a panic, they rushed down to the beach.

When they reached the scene, Blair's other daughter told her, "Mum, it's Lulu."

She said: "I just remember screaming, like I didn't know what else to do. Ellie kind of calmed me down. It was like a scene out of a movie."

Two teenage girls were wounded by the shark and taken to separate hospitals.

South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford released a statement explaining one victim had "significant injuries to one upper and one lower extremity, both requiring the application of tourniquets," and the other victim sustained "flesh wounds" to her right foot.

But they weren't alone. Just an hour before the teen's attack, a 45 year old woman was also swimming in the vicinity and suffered severe bites to her midsection, pelvis and left arm.

Lulu's mother recounted the moment she saw her daughter lying on the beach, saying: "I didn't know that her hand was bitten off because they had covered it up.

"And then I could see her leg, and like, that was probably the worst part because her leg was gone basically. And it's something that, like, I can see it right now. I will never unsee it."

The journey to the hospital was torturous for LuLu's mother, who spent the entire trip praying her daughter was still alive.

Upon arrival, doctors swiftly decided to amputate Lulu's leg. They knew that even if they attempted to save it, future amputation would be inevitable.

Following this, the 14-year-old was transferred to Ortho Carolina's Reconstructive Center for Lost Limbs in North Carolina, where she endured a lengthy recovery period of 77 days.

As a teenager, Lulu had to start from scratch, learning how to perform basic tasks with just one arm and one leg.

During rehabilitation, she was taught how to dress herself, brush her teeth, use the toilet, and carry out all these routine daily activities that she previously took for granted.

"There were so many other patients that were in worse conditions than me and that didn't even have the option to do half the stuff that I was doing," she said.

"They would do anything in the world to be in my position. So I was just grateful that I had the option to do what they were teaching."

Despite the severe trauma she experienced, her positive attitude remained unshaken, and it was this that propelled her towards a successful recovery and a life with prosthetics.

Learning to utilise her prosthetics was somewhat of a "mental block" for Lulu, who was now adapting to movement with metal. However, she managed to receive prosthetics earlier than anticipated, and certainly sooner than most patients in her situation.

"My situation is an anomaly. Most people get prosthetics a very long time after they are amputated," Lulu revealed. Her mother added: "She walked out of the hospital, which is extremely unheard of."

The teenager has since returned to that very beach, where the shark attack that forever altered her life took place.

She stated: "I just laid in the sand like how I was laying in the sand when all the paramedics were over me. That was very emotional."