Elisabeth Foley was swimming in the ocean off the Florida coast with her family when a shark suddenly appeared right next to her.
"I saw this incredibly large dark mass that looked like a torpedo," she said.
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The next thing she knew, she was bitten between her legs. She punched the shark, but it grabbed her left hand.
"This is the moment when I knew I was going to die," she said.
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The 51-year-old would survive, but her hand was gone.
"The shark took my entire hand," she said.
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Foley, who used to live in Mansfield, Massachusetts, but now lives in Virginia, had 19 surgeries and a prosthetic.
"It's a good tool," she said. "It's better than not having a hand, I think."
But she was hoping for something better -- a myoelectric hand that can do so much more.
"The hand has multiple grips," she said. "The fingers work. In essence, I'd get my fine motor skills back, it would improve my life significantly."
But her insurance denied the claim, saying her policy excludes myoelectric devices.
"It was kind of a punch in the gut, because I want to be back to normal," Foley said.
Now, she's turning to the community, launching a fundraising page so she can pay for the new hand without relying on insurance.
She says she needs to raise $73,000.
