‘My soul left my body.’ Shark startles 6-year-old playing in surf, Hawaii video shows

An ordinary day at the beach turned into terror Sunday for a 6-year-old Hawaii girl who spotted a shark beside her in the surf.

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

Sheri Gouveia was shooting a video of her daughter playing in the ocean at Kalama Beach on Oahu at the time, Hawaii News Now reported. They are frequent visitors to the beach.

“I was recording her being silly prior to that happening then all of a sudden she started darting out of the water and told me,” Gouveia told KITV.

She didn’t spot the shark until she reviewed the footage later, according to the TV station, which posted Gouveia’s video.

“By the time she came out of the water, she was hysterical,” Gouveia told KHON. Experts say the shark, most likely a blacktip, was probably feeding on fish in the shallow water.

Gouveia told Hawaii News Now her daughter has “angels to keep her safe.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 12:05 PM with the headline "‘My soul left my body.’ Shark startles 6-year-old playing in surf, Hawaii video shows."