Woman Survives Shark Attack, Gets More Than 100 Stitches

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) _ A college student was bitten by a shark in Sarasota Bay and needed more than 100 stitches to close her wounds. <br/><br/>Andrea Lynch, 20, said she was floating on her back near a

Saturday, August 18th 2007, 2:55 pm

By: News On 6

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) _ A college student was bitten by a shark in Sarasota Bay and needed more than 100 stitches to close her wounds.

Andrea Lynch, 20, said she was floating on her back near a boat when the shark bit her side Wednesday, shook her and then let her go.

When she got back in the boat, she told her friends that she might have been bitten by a shark but they thought she was joking or mistaken.

``I reached back with my hand and felt all these gashes on me, and there was blood running down my body and pooling in the boat,'' she said.

Lynch had 17 puncture wounds. Doctors said the shark's teeth missed all major organs but were close to her lungs.

A shark expert said Lynch may have been bitten by a roughly 6-foot-long bull shark.