A shark snapped a woman’s foot like a bear trap, and clenched tight as she felt “bodies slithering” between her legs. 

“I was shaking, kicking wildly to get it off, but you don’t have much power in the water,” Debbie Salamone told Fox News Digital. “I’m screaming, ‘It’s got me,'” as the shark’s grip tightened.

She was only about waist-deep and 50 feet away from the Cape Canaveral National Seashore in Florida, but she couldn’t move. 

She felt “bodies” brushing against her legs and swarming around her. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I’m in this feeding frenzy,” Salamone said. 

Dr. Megan Winton, a leading shark expert who leads research efforts at Cape Cod’s Atlantic White Shark Recovery, said humans’ instinctive response to fight, splash and thrash is the worst thing to do during a shark attack. 

“It attracts attention and looks like a wounded animal,” Winton told Fox News Digital. “And moving whatever part they have back and forth across the teeth in the shark’s mouth can make injuries worse.”

If anyone finds themselves in Salamone’s dire situation, Winton said the best thing to do is fight back by attacking the shark’s eyes and gills.

“Those are softer, more sensitive, and they’re more likely to drop prey that fights,” Winton said.