It is possible that the direct contact with its eye contributed to the release.
But the essential sequence is clear.
Leeanne fought back.
She struck the shark.
She targeted its eye.
And the animal released its grip.
That moment gave her the opportunity she needed to escape.
The shark was no longer physically attached to her leg.
But she remained underwater with a devastating injury.
Her right thigh had suffered extensive tissue damage.
She still needed to reach the surface.
And she needed immediate assistance.
The danger did not disappear when the shark let go.
The animal had already inflicted a serious wound.
The surrounding ocean remained hazardous.
And the people above the surface still needed to locate her.
For Leeanne, breaking free was the first critical step toward survival.
For Dusty Phillips, the next challenge was finding her before it was too late.
Chapter 5: Dusty Searches for Leeanne
As the attack unfolded, Dusty Phillips faced a terrifying situation.
His girlfriend had been pulled beneath the water by a large shark.
He needed to find her.
But the water was murky, making it difficult to see what was happening below the surface.
Dusty entered the water and searched for Leeanne.
The decision placed him in the same area where the shark had just attacked.
He had no assurance that the animal had left.
He also could not know the full extent of Leeanne's injuries until he reached her.
The urgency was enormous.
A person who has been submerged during a violent shark encounter may be injured, disoriented, or unable to reach safety without assistance.
Dusty's immediate goal was to locate Leeanne and help bring her out of the water.
Other surfers became involved in the rescue.
Together, they assisted in getting her toward shore.
The available account does not establish every movement made by each rescuer.
It does not provide a complete second-by-second reconstruction of the rescue.
What is known is that Dusty searched for Leeanne and that he and other surfers helped bring her back to the beach.
The cooperation was critical.
Leeanne had suffered extensive injuries to her right thigh.
Moving through the ocean with such damage would have been extremely difficult.
The rescuers needed to get her away from the water and into a location where emergency medical personnel could reach her.
Every moment mattered.
The shark's attack had created a wound serious enough to threaten her life.
The full extent of the damage was not yet known.
But it was clear that she needed urgent treatment.
The beach was the immediate destination.
Once there, responders could begin addressing the injury and arrange transportation to a hospital.