Category - Major Events
After Surviving Shark Attack, Lulu Gribbin Is Thriving Through Golf
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77 Days.
That’s how long Birmingham, Alabama, teenager Lulu Gribbin spent in various hospitals after losing her left hand and right leg in a shark attack June 7th, 2024, at Seacrest Beach on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
What started as a mother-daughter vacation with her twin sister Ellie and 16-year-old friend McCray Faust quickly turned into a life-altering situation.
While searching for sand dollars close to shore, a bull shark attacked the two friends, biting Faust on her lower right leg and foot, while inflicting life-threatening injuries on Gribbin. Thanks to the quick action of bystanders on the beach, Gribbin was life-flighted to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, where her left hand and right leg, just above the knee, were amputated.
Gribbin, a competitive teen who grew up loving volleyball, basketball and golf, and participating in junior programs and tournaments at the Country Club of Birmingham, had no plans of allowing the shark attack to slow her down.
“I made it,” were her first words to parents Joe and Ann Blair in the hospital after the first of many surgeries.
While still in the hospital, Gribbin and her parents reached out to Eric Eshleman, PGA of America Secretary and Country Club of Birmingham Director of Golf, explaining that she wanted to go all in on golf.
“I've always known how to play golf,” said Gribbin, “but now it's my main sport and I love it. It’s really become a big part of my life now, more than it was before.”
“It warmed my heart,” said Eshleman about the call. “One of the first things she thought while still in the hospital was ‘this isn’t slowing me down.’ When she was at her lowest of lows, golf was going to serve as a saving grace to move her life forward.”
Fortunately, PGA of America Golf Professional Chris Biggins, Director of Player Development at the Country Club of Birmingham—and a nationally ranked adaptive golfer born with cerebral palsy—knew just how to help.
On May 18 during the 2025 PGA Championship, CNN aired the story behind Gribbin and Biggins' story:
Biggins, known to many as “Biggs,” not only travels the world competing in adaptive golf tournaments, but was also on the U.S. Paralympic Development Ski Team from 2014-2022. He knew exactly the correct way to approach working with Gribbin.
Three months after the attack, Gribbin was swinging a golf club.
“She was ready to come play golf and we just jumped right into it at full speed,” said Biggins. “I couldn’t believe she was walking around in prosthetics already. The first thing I asked her was, ‘Is it ok if you fall down?’ I didn’t want Lulu to play like she was disabled. I wanted her swing to be as powerful as possible, as fast as possible.”
With that very first lesson, she amazed everyone with her athletic ability and positive demeanor.
“You would have thought it was pain-free by her attitude, but I know it wasn’t,” said Biggins. “She never showed any weakness there. She was ready to go full force right off the bat.”
“You couldn't dream up the fact that Chris has traveled the world and gotten to know both skiers and golfers that have amazing creativity in prosthetics and balance and athleticism to compete,” Eshleman said. “We couldn’t have dreamed up a better mentor and coach for Lulu.”
As they began weekly lessons, Biggins used his competitive experience and access to other adaptive athletes to create an attachment for Gribbin’s prosthetic arm that enabled her to swing a golf club with both arms.
“I made a bunch of calls to a lot of my friends who compete with one arm and all have different attachments, because every amputation is different,” Biggins said. “I called those who use an attachment and some who don't, and the consensus was that in the long run, it’s way better to have a two-handed swing if you can.”
Gribbin began lessons with one-arm swings until Biggins created a prototype attachment from pvc pipe and a garden hose from his yard.
Then the family learned that prosthetic golf hands were available. “It was terrible,” Gribbin said. “But the one Biggs has made, it’s amazing. It works so well.”
Biggins took his makeshift prototype, which mimics the wrist joint, to Mark McColl, a retired engineer in Birmingham who sits on the board of Lakeshore Foundation, an official United States Olympic and Paralympic training site.
McColl, who has a passion for making these types of attachments, took Biggins’ design and programmed it into a 3-D printer.
After countless iterations and a lot of trial and error, Gribbin now has an attachment that makes a world of difference. It even has her name engraved on it in purple, her favorite color.
“If you didn’t know she had the attachment, you could have assumed she was able-bodied and had two hands,” Biggins said.
In the 11 months since the attack, golf has taken Gribbin on some incredible journeys, where she’s met some incredible individuals.
In February, Gribbin walked the 13th hole with Justin Thomas during a practice round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, draining a birdie putt for him. She also played the famous 16th hole with Rickie Fowler, who then gave her his putter.
“I mean, that was probably one of the coolest experiences I’ll ever get,” Gribbin said.
As Gribbin approaches the one-year anniversary of her shark attack, not a day goes by where she doesn’t reflect on where it’s taken her.
“I think about this daily. I had no expectations that any of this past year would have happened. It’s really surreal.”
She’s used her platform and story to make a difference, documenting her journey through her “lulug.strong” Instagram account. Most recently, “Lulu’s Law” was passed to create a shark attack alert system in Alabama’s coastal counties. She’s also in the process of creating a foundation to help other amputees.
Her positive attitude and resiliency have made Gribbin an inspiration for many, including her Country Club of Birmingham PGA of America Coaches Biggins, Eshleman and MK Horton.
“It’s much bigger than just a typical golf lesson,” said Biggins. “People with amputations all around the world are watching her on social media and getting inspired by her. She’s not just practicing and playing for herself, she’s practicing to inspire everyone else down the line who have similar struggles.
“It makes me feel proud and fulfilled. I remember turning to MK after our first lesson with her and we were both just blown away. That was the best golf lesson we’ve ever had in our entire lives.”
Gribbin is appreciative of her PGA Coaches, and even has sights on one day traveling the world to compete like Biggins. Once she completes a lesson or a round of golf, she eagerly awaits the next opportunity to get back to the Country Club of Birmingham.
“I just love how they love being with me,” Gribbin said. “It makes me really want to love golf even more. I want them to know they are changing the game of golf one day at a time through each lesson. Their passion for the sport really inspires me to just keep getting better at golf and keep falling in love with it.”