‘My soul left my body’: 6-year-old girl from Hawaii recalls scary shark encounter

HONOLULU — A 6-year-old Hawaii girl had a terrifying encounter with a shark on Sunday.

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Anela Rezentes, of Kailua, was bumped by the shark at Kalama Beach while she swam in shallow waters, KHON reported.

“My soul left my body,” Rezentes told the television station. “I saw a shark. I didn’t notice he was behind my back. So I really wanted to run out. I was really scared.”

The girl’s mother, Sheri Gouveia, was shooting video of Rezentes playing in the waves when the child was darting out of the water, Hawaii News Now reported.

“By the time she came out of the water, she was hysterical,” Gouveia told KHON. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ So I ran up, but I was looking for it but couldn’t see it. I didn’t realize it was actually a shark. That’s what shocked me.”

Based on the video Gouveia took, experts believe Rezentes encountered a blacktip shark. The species feeds on fish and routinely seeks food in shallow waters, the television station reported.

Experts believe the shark was not targeting Rezentes, but it still left her and her mother shaken.

“Never, ever has something like this happened before. She’s pretty much here every other weekend,” Gouveia told KHON. “I guess there really are angels watching over my angel.”

Cox Media Group