1 of 9
Mountain Brook welcomed home shark attack survivor Lulu Gribbin with a parade on Saturday. Gribbin, 15, had been hospitalized out of state since the June 7 attack in Walton County, Florida. She lost her right leg and part of her right hand as a result.
2 of 9
Tim Stephens
Emmy Barrett, left, and Emma Jayne Danella, right, both age 11, show off a photo of shark attack survivor Lulu Gribbin that they captured during a parade Saturday in Mountain Brook.
3 of 9
Tim Stephens
Scarlett Heidi, 13, brought a handmade sign to encourage shark attack survivor Lulu Gribbin during a parade in Mountain Brook on Saturday.
4 of 9
Gribbin Family
Lulu Gribbin, 15, is fitted with prosthetics after a shark attack on June 7 took her her right leg and part of her left arm.
5 of 9
Photo courtesy of the Gribbin family.
Lulu Gribbin, 15, with her twin sister Ellie at the hospital in the days after Lulu was attacked by a shark on a family vacation in Walton County, Florida, in June.
6 of 9
Gribbin Family
On the weekend before she was released from the hospital to return home to Mountain Brook, Lulu Gribbin got to attend an NFL preseason game between the Charlotte Panthers and New York Jets.
7 of 9
Gribbin Family
Lulu Gribbin, left, got to meet Charlotte Panthers QB Bryce Young, a former University of Alabama star and Heisman Trophy winner, when she attended an NFL preseason game.
8 of 9
Gribbin Family
Lulu Gribbin, 15, and her mother, Ann Blair Gribbin, raise their hands in triumph on Friday, August 23, after Lulu walked out of Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, NC., where she had been recovering from a shark attack she suffered on June 7 in Walton County, Florida.
9 of 9
Gribbin Family
The Gribbin family has been united under one roof for the first time in 77 days. Lulu Gribbin, 15, left, was attacked by a shark while on vacation on June 7 in Walton County, Florida. She lost her right leg and part of her left arm but is now back home with her family in Mountain Brook.
Teen shark attack survivor Lulu Gribbin returned home to a hero’s welcome in Mountain Brook on Saturday.
Zipping through the villages on the back of a golf cart, Gribbin used her new prosthetic arm to wave to what were estimated to be thousands of Mountain Brook residents and visitors from nearby municipalities who lined the streets to show their support.
People cheered. Purple flags, shakers and ribbons were everywhere, some bearing the slogan #LuluStrong that residents here adopted after Gribbin was attacked by a shark in the Highway 30A area of the Florida panhandle on June 7.
Near the front of the crowd at the corner of Montevallo Road and Cahaba Road, Emma Jayne Danella and Emmy Barrett, both age 11, did their best to get a good view of the 15-year-old Gribbin as the short caravan of cars carrying her and her family, escorted by Mountain Brook police cruisers, rolled past.
It was over almost as soon as it began. But just a glimpse and an opportunity to show support was enough.
“Lulu is my idol,” Emma Jayne declared.
“She is somebody to look up to,” said Emmy, who attends the same church – St. Luke’s Episcopal – as the Gribbins. “She got bit by a shark and survived and kept working and never gave up through it all.”
Indeed, the story has captivated young and old alike since that fateful day at the beach. A family vacation turned into a life-altering experience. One of three people bitten by sharks in the area on that day, Gribbin lost part of her left arm and part of her right leg to the big fish. She lost ⅔ of her blood, and might not have survived if not for the quick thinking of medical professionals who just happened to be present when it happened.
Since then, she has made remarkable but difficult progress in hospitals in Florida and North Carolina. Last week, she and her family attended a Carolina Panthers preseason NFL game where they were honored and got to meet former Alabama QB and Heisman winner Bryce Young, now the QB for the Panthers.
Friday, she completed her rehab and walked out of Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte on her new prosthetic leg, wearing a purple T-shirt bearing the slogan "I made it." Videos of her preparing to come home and even dribbling a basketball using her prosthetic hand were posted to the lulug.strong Instagram account, which has amassed more than 232,000 followers since being created.
That social media presence has helped those who knew her – or those just inspired by her story and her determination – to follow her journey.
“She is really strong to survive that,” Emma Barrett said. “All her posts are so happy and upbeat.”
Scarlett Heidi, age 13, held up a hand-drawn sign that read, “We (heart) LULU!." She and her older sister Jenni Grace were there with their family. Jenni Grace said she knew Gribbin through volleyball and that the saga has been shocking for her and her classmates. Jenni Grace said she doesn’t have social media accounts, but she frequently asked friends to look up how Lulu was progressing on their phones for her.
“It’s been really hard for those of us in our grade to watch her suffer,” Jenni Grace said. “We just wanted to be here to support Lulu and her family.”
That community support was evident all along the roadway, all the way to the final destination in Crestline Village.
Back in Mountain Brook Village, Emmy and Emma Jayne were still soaking it all in and proud of an instant snapshot they had gotten of Lulu as she rolled past. Although not even in their teens yet, they had a sense of how community support would be big for Lulu’s continued rehabilitation at home. A new normal exists now that she’s in familiar surroundings and recovery work is still ahead.
“I think it’s positive to see everyone come out and be supportive of Lulu,” Emmy said. “To not forget or pretend it never happened but for the community to continue supporting her through this.”
What would Emmy want to tell Lulu?
“That it takes somebody to be really brave and fight it and to be OK,” she said. “I would tell her that I am really proud of her and the whole community.”
Emma Jayne smiled as she contemplated the question.
“I would say, ‘You are so strong and you survived this and you should be so proud of yourself. You are amazing.'"
