A 73-year-old diver lost her leg after a shark attacked her while on vacation in the Bahamas

• An experienced diver from Iowa lost her leg in a shark attack in the Bahamas.
• Heidi Ernst, 73, had been scuba diving just south of Taino Beach when the shark attacked.

An experienced diver from Iowa lost her leg after a shark attacked her while she was scuba diving in the Bahamas, according to Iowa news outlet The Gazette.

Heidi Ernst, 73, was climbing back onto a boat just south of Taino Beach when a shark attacked her, biting her leg and flailing its head from side to side, per the report.

She managed to fight the shark off before receiving first aid on the boat, which stopped her bleeding to death, according to a GoFundMe page set up by her friends.

Ernst, who reportedly completed her 500th dive in May, told The Gazette: "There was blood everywhere. I was dying. I was going to bleed to death. I was afraid I was going to die and was in severe pain."

The former physical therapist was taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Miami after receiving initial treatment at a local hospital. However, her injuries were so severe that amputation was deemed to be the best option.

"I made the decision with the surgeon to take my leg off," Ernst told The Gazette. "It was evident that it could not be saved."

Ernst said that she did not blame the shark. "It's humans who teach animals to do certain behaviors," she said, per The Gazette, adding that boat loads of tourists had been feeding sharks prior to the attack.

"The shark knew that there was food to be had at a boat," she said.

Her friends are trying to raise $30,000 to help cover her medical expenses that aren't covered by her insurance, travel expenses, and any future home accessibility modifications she may need. The GoFundMe page says that Ernst will require more surgeries going forward.

"Heidi is a proud, independent woman that does not like to ask for help but her friends want to help her and this is a way," it adds.