Family of teen killed by two sharks while snorkeling reveal how she was attacked

The family of a California woman who was killed by two sharks while snorkeling in the Bahamas reveal how she tried to swim to her mother after the first beast ‘took most of her right arm off’. 

Jordan Lindsey, a 21-year-old student at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, was on vacation with her family when she was attacked inside a roped-off snorkeling area during a day excursion to Rose Island on June 26. 

Her father, Michael, told Good Morning America that the family had decided to take a last minute excursion during the third day of their vacation and split up. Jordan and her mother, Kami, went snorkeling and Michael and the others went to pet pigs.  

Michael recalled how he and other family members were nearby petting the pigs when a passerby mentioned a ‘teenager’ getting attacked by a shark. 

‘I took off,’ Michael said, adding that once he got there he saw his daughter in the water surrounded by sharks. 

‘Kami said she heard Jordan yell, “mom,” and then Kami looked back and her first thing was she thought dolphins were around Jordan,’ Michael told GMA. 

It wasn’t until Kami realized that her daughter was actually screaming that she turned around and started swimming to Jordan.

Michael (pictured with Jordan’s girlfriend) said the family decided to take a last minute excursion during the third day of their vacation and split up. Jordan and her mother, Kami, went snorkeling and Michael and the others went to pet pigs

Jordan (pictured) was with her mother inside a roped-off snorkeling area during a day excursion to Rose Island on June 26

Micheal recalled: ‘[Kami’s] yelling, “Jordan, come swim to me,” and then Jordan is not swimming so good and then Kami realized the first shark took most of her right arm off.’ Jordan is pictured with her mother, Kami 

‘She’s yelling, “Jordan, come swim to me,” and then Jordan is not swimming so good and then Kami realized the first shark took most of her right arm off,’ Michael told GMA. 

Michael said no one was screaming about sharks in the water, but they were telling Kami and Jordan to swim toward the boat. 

Jordan and Kami were a good distance away from other snorkelers and there were no guides or staff members from the Sandy Toes tour company in the water with the tour group at the time. 

When Jordan and Kami finally made it to one another, a second shark attacked. Kami attempted to fight back, hitting the shark on the nose, but nothing worked.  

‘They’re swimming slowly and Jordan said, “Mom, there’s another shark coming,” and then it just hit the second shark hit again like on her lower leg and just took a giant chunk out of her and then that’s the last thing Jordan said,’ Michael said. 

Despite the second attack, Kami manages to pull her daughter out of the water and onto a nearby rocky area where they wait for the boat to take them to shore. 

Last month, the family released a statement that said the boat that took them ashore was not equipped with medical supplies. 

‘There was no medical attention provided to Jordan. They had no first aid kit – no basic supplies for any type of injury,’ the statement read.  ‘A towel was used to cover Jordan’s injured legs,’ the family said.    

A tourist who was on the tour boat with Lindsey snapped a picture of a shark in the water following the attack. Lindsey had been swimming in the area 45 minutes before the attack

When Jordan and Kami finally made it to one another, a second shark attacked. Kami attempted to fight back, hitting the shark on the nose, but nothing worked. Jordan is pictured with her dad (left) and her girlfriend (right)

As the boat took them to shore, Jordan was still alive. An ambulance was waiting at the shore to rush Jordan to a nearby hospital. 

But by the time Michael got to the Nassau hospital, ‘they said, your daughter is gone’.

‘[Kami] seen her poor daughter die in her arms and it’s just – it’s crazy. Kami doesn’t like the nights because once she closes her eyes she’s back in that water again,’ Michael said. 

He said the last thing he remembers is ‘kissing Jordan on the forehead’.

‘I just kissed her on the forehead and said, see you later, Jordan,’ he said. 

Jordan’s girlfriend, Gianna Gabrielle-Kasparek, told GMA that Jordan was ‘really smart’ and had ‘the biggest heart’.

‘She cared a lot about me and her family,’ Gianna said. 

Michael said he has cried ‘every night’ since the tragedy.  

Other family members hadn’t gone snorkeling and relatives claim Sandy Toes never notified them of the attack.

Despite the second attack, Kami manages to pull her daughter out of the water and onto a nearby rocky area where they wait for the boat to take them to shore. Jordan (pictured) was still alive while the boat took her to shore 

Lindsey’s family (pictured while on vacation) said the tour company did nothing to rescue the 21-year-old and staff lacked even a basic first aid kit to help her

The attack occurred during the family’s excursion to Rose Island in the Bahamas (depicted above)

‘They overheard conversations from others that had been snorkeling and when they noticed people crying, realized the severity of what had happened and soon after, concluded that it was their precious Jordan who the snorkelers were crying for,’ a family statement said.

The family said tour operations should be required in the future to include someone whose job is to spot snorkelers in trouble and watch for predators. 

They also wants companies to have clear plans in place for any emergency, to carry medical supplies aboard all tour boats and to require first-aid training for all staff.

Her family said the changes were needed to ‘ensure a tragedy like this does not happen again’. 

‘We would not be able to live with ourselves if we didn’t speak out and later hear that another family suffered the same devastating loss,’ the family said. 

An email to Sandy Toes seeking comment was not immediately returned. Their website is still taking reservations for Rose Island tours.