A young mother has died a hero. Twenty-six-year-old Maria Fernandez Martinez Jimenez was swimming off the coast of Mexico when a shark appeared in the water. Jimenez was able to protect her child but ended up losing her own life when the shark attacked her.
Bystanders managed to retrieve Jimenez from the water, but she later died from loss of blood. Hauntingly, the entire thing was captured on video and later shared on social media.
More from CafeMom: North Carolina Mother Saves Her Teen Daughter From a Heart Attack During Cheer Competition
The attack happened in Melaque.
The brutal attack, which happened over the weekend, was in the town of Melaque, the New York Post reported. Video of Jimenez’s body after she crawled out on the beach showed up online after the horrific accident.
In it, you can hear bystanders shouting that the young woman “lost her leg.” Jimenez was a former marine biology student at the University of Guadalajara and lived in the western state of Jalisco.
More from CafeMom: Video Captures a Family Miraculously Finding Son in the Ocean Hours After Disappearance
The animal bit Jimenez in the leg, near her hip.
Rafael Araiza, head of the local civil defense office, reported that Jimenez was in the ocean with her daughter when she realized a shark was in the water nearby. She rushed to boost her daughter onto a play platform that was floating 75 feet from shore.
After her daughter was safe, the shark chomped down on Jimenez's leg, near the hip. Rescuers moved quickly to get her to shore, but it was too late. She died of blood loss from the wound. Her daughter was unharmed.
Later, authorities suggested the animal might have been a crocodile.
Authorities later suggested that a crocodile may have attacked Jimenez rather than a shark, according to the Daily Mail, because nobody has reported sharks approaching people in that area.
A swimming race was taking place nearby, according to Civil Protection officials in the municipality of Cihuatlan.
“Our officials were carrying out support activities during a swimming event in the bay when they received reports of a person who was having problems getting out of the sea,” the statement read. “When they reached the area they discovered a woman who was lifeless with one of her legs amputated, apparently following a shark attack.”
Witnesses built a makeshift altar for Jimenez in the wake of her passing.
Although shark attacks are relatively rare in the area, after Jimenez’s death, authorities closed the beach in Melaque and the nearby town of Barra de Navidad as a precaution. Before that, well-wishers left flowers at a makeshift altar in honor of Jimenez, the Daily Mail reported.
Chiefs from the University of Guadalajara wrote in tribute to Jimenez, “We express our condolences following this irreparable loss.”
A former students shared a similar sentiment, per the Daily Mail. “I want to express my condolences, affection and support for Maria's family following her death. I am accompanying this wonderful family I feel as my own in their pain and anguish. I am with you. Rest in peace Maria.”
