California woman 'fighting for her life' after shark attack

A California woman is “fighting for her life” after being bitten by a shark at a popular Southern California beach over the weekend. 

Leeanne Ericson was listed in critical condition Monday at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., following the attack,AP reported. The 35-year-old was bitten on the leg Saturday evening at an area called “Church” off of Camp Pendleton’s San Onofre State Beach. Following the attack, a group of beachgoers helped pull Ericson from the water, and a surfboard leash was used as a tourniquet, according to AP. 

"All of the back of her leg was kind of missing," Thomas Williams, who witnessed the incident, told the Orange County Register.

A woman identified as Ericson’s mother, Christine McKnerney Leidle, said on a GoFundMe page that Ericson has a long road to recovery, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

“She is a single mom with three young children who depend on her,” McKnerney Leidle wrote. “She has a long road ahead with several surgeries to go. I don't know how much this will cost, but she's going to need all the help she can get.  So I am asking for your help with anything that you can spare to help her and her family.”

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