Shark Bite Victim To Surf Again

Attacked While Surfing; Expected To Make Full Recovery

(CBS)  "It cut all the way to the bone, cutting the muscle between the skin and the bone," trauma surgeon Dr. Dave Hardin told the news conference. He said on The Early Show Wednesday that the bite came within a centimeter of a major artery.

"I just actually looked at it for the first time right now, they just changed my dressing," Halavais tearfully told the news conference. The gash went from her thigh to her calf.

Shark attacks in the United States are rare, Kauffman points out. You have a better chance of getting killed falling down a flight of stairs.

Still, to be on the safe side, officials closed the Sonoma County beaches where she was surfing.

"It's just like you think about it, but you don't think it's gonna happen to you," Halavais said.

" 'Don't give up,' " Bryant told the news conference he'd implored Halavais. " 'If you give up, you're done.' Megan never gave up."

Halavais not only never gave up, she said she won't give up on the notion of returning to surfing. Her mother, Mary Halavais, who was also at the news conference, didn't seem so sure that's a good idea.

"Well," Megan said with a smile, "I figure, it's happened once, it won't happen again."

"The odds are the same as they were before this happened," Megan's mother, Mary Halavais said.

"Less likely," Megan replied.

"No, no," Mary said with a chuckle. "She'll be fine."

"Plus," Megan added, "if I get bit twice, it's Guinness Book of World Records."

"Ahh, Megan" was all her mother could say to that.

The teeth marks on Megan's surfboard measure 19 inches across, Kauffman says, testimony to just how lucky she is to be alive.

"A 16-foot shark, if it meant to eat me, it would have. It was just tasting," Megan reflected.

She was scheduled to undergo more surgery Friday, could be released from the hospital early next week, and is expected to make a full recovery, Kauffman says.