ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. – A North Carolina high school student lost her leg after being bitten by a shark at Atlantic Beach.
17-year-old Paige Winter was at Fort Macon state park with her family Sunday when the attack happened.
Officials say she sustained deep lacerations to her leg, pelvic and hand areas.
Winter is a student at New Bern High School where students and teachers have shown an outpouring of support.
Experts say, though shark bites do happen along the Crystal Coast, they're extremely rare.
"The sharks are not out there waiting for their opportunity to prey upon people," said Joel Fodrie, a marine sciences professor at UNC. "That doesn't mean that these encounters won't happen when we are in the water for hundreds and millions of hours on aggregate"
"We all adore Paige so much, and so we've had a lot of responses of students coming in crying," said Aaron Williams, a theater teacher.
A GoFundMe account to help Paige with medical costs has already reached more than $10,000.
The teen is involved in many activities at the school, particularly theater - so students will hold a performance Tuesday with proceeds going to Paige's family.