Lulu Is Back in Town
The granddaughter of Tuscaloosa native Joe Gribbin and his wife Janie, Lulu Gribbin, is back home in Mountain Brook. Her return to Alabama comes 77 days after she was attacked by a shark in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this summer.
Her hometown of Mountain Brook and the State of Alabama will officially welcome her with a parade this afternoon. The occasion will be a celebration of the beautiful and confident 15-year-old's survival, tenacity and resilience during her lengthy recovery.
Gribbin was severely injured in June while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola Beach. Her left hand was lost during the attack and surgeons amputated part of her right leg. 17-year-old McCray Faust, a friend of Lulu, was able to escape the attack with relatively minor injuries.
Florida officials believe the same bull shark that attacked Gribbin and Faust is the one that also attacked a 45-year-old woman earlier that day, leaving her with severe injuries.
In a recent social media post, Ann Blair Gribbin wrote about her daughter's remarkable attitude, "What I have witnessed is that Lulu is here. Nothing about her personality or funny, smart loving self has changed one bit. She may have lost her hand and her leg, but she is here, and we are truly grateful for that," said Gribbin.
For the last 11 weeks Lulu has been receiving medical attention since being transported from Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Alabama's Junior U.S. Senator Katie Britt released a video welcoming the teen home to Alabama, “Welcome home, Lulu. You are an inspiration—your determination, your character, and your resiliency are unmatched. I am so excited to see the parade on Saturday and more celebrations to come.”
Lulu has received attention from athletes, celebrities, politicians and people from all over the world, including Alabama's Heisman winning and now Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young who visited her in the hospital.
The incident might not have happened if there had been a warning system that alerted swimmers in the area to the earlier attack. Britt is co-sponsoring Lulu's Law that would establish just such as system. The bill states, "Lulu's Law will codify shark attacks as events for which wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) may be transmitted. This would encourage authorized local, state, tribal, and federal government authorities to quickly deploy warnings via mobile phone alert messages to the public if a shark has attacked someone or if the conditions enhancing the possibility of a shark attack are present.
The "Welcome Home Lulu" parade begins at 4:00pm today in Mountain Brook Village in Jefferson County. The parade will move along Montevallo Road, passing down Church Street in the Crestline neighborhood.
Mountain Brook Police said attendees may line both sides of Montevallo Road to show their support but may not block or obstruct the flow of traffic along the roadway.
Everyone will be happy to say, Lulu is back in town"
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