He immediately swam toward her.
Rhett was a firefighter and emergency medical responder, but the situation demanded something beyond an ordinary medical response.
The shark was still attacking his sister.
He had to separate them before he could begin helping her.
He moved directly toward the animal and struck it until it released Addison.
That was the turning point in the immediate attack.
Addison was no longer trapped in the shark's jaws.
Rhett could help her toward the boat.
But the injury to her right leg was devastating.
The shark had severely damaged her thigh, creating an immediate medical emergency.
Once aboard, Rhett and others used a tourniquet to help control the bleeding.
The emergency response continued with helicopter transportation to a hospital.
Doctors assessed the damage.
The muscles of Addison's right thigh had been injured so severely that the leg could not be saved.
On July 6, six days after the attack, she underwent an above-knee amputation.
The operation permanently changed her physical circumstances.
She had survived the shark.
But she would have to learn to live without her right lower leg and knee.
The recovery process included rehabilitation and adaptation to a prosthetic leg.
For a teenager, that represented an enormous challenge.
The attack had interrupted an ordinary summer outing.
The medical consequences changed the way she would move through the world.
But Addison survived.
And she began working toward regaining mobility.
The story is remarkable because it involves several different kinds of courage.
Addison fought back while the shark was holding her leg.
Rhett entered the water and confronted the animal to free his sister.
The people aboard the boat helped control her bleeding.
Emergency responders transported her to medical care.
Doctors treated her injuries and made difficult decisions about the damaged limb.
And Addison began the long process of recovery.
Each stage contributed to the final outcome.
The rescue did not consist of a single dramatic moment.
It was a chain of actions that began underwater and continued through the hospital and rehabilitation.
The shark's initial bite was the event that created the emergency.
Rhett's intervention helped end the immediate attack.
The tourniquet helped address the danger of severe bleeding.
The helicopter brought Addison to advanced medical care.
And the amputation became necessary because of the extent of the damage.
The consequences were permanent.
But the teenager survived an encounter that could have ended her life.
The incident also demonstrates why shark attacks should not be evaluated only by whether the victim escapes the animal.
Addison escaped the shark's jaws.
That did not mean she escaped without injury.
The damage to her leg was severe enough to require amputation.