Colorado girl, 15, loses leg in 'terror-filled fight for life' during shark attack on Belize vacation

A Colorado teenager has lost her leg after enduring a " terror-filled fight for her life " when she was attacked by an "aggressive" shark while on vacation in Belize.

Annabelle Carlson, 15, was enjoying a holiday with her family when horror struck while she was on a diving excursion near Halfmoon Caye in the Gulf of Honduras on Tuesday morning. The Aspen High School student had been on a scuba diving tour at the Lighthouse Reef, 50 miles southeast of Belize City when she was attacked by a six-foot reef shark.

A GoFundMe page set up by someone acting as a "support team" for the teenager's family revealed Annabelle had removed her scuba diving gear and jumped back into the water for a swim when the attack unfolded .

• Surfer's leg washes up on beach as great white shark rips through limbs in savage attack

• AI drones keeping swimmers safe as great white sharks descend on California beach

"On a family vacation to Belize, Annabelle was scuba diving with a tour group and her family. After she was finished scuba diving and was on the boat, she jumped back into the water for a swim," it read. "That's when the unimaginable encounter happened. The odds are 1 in 11.5 million that this could happen."

It continued: "That unimaginable encounter was a shark attack. It was a very aggressive, very traumatic, terror-filled fight for her life. Annabelle 1, shark 0. Annabelle was able to fight off the attack as best as she could but was critically injured in the fight."

Annabelle was pulled out of the water by tour operators who took her to a Coast Guard base. While there, officers helped to stabilize her before she was airlifted by helicopter to a trauma center in Belize City.

The GoFundMe reads: "The quick action from the emergency response team in Belize saved her life. They were able to stabilize her, at which point she was medically flown to the United States and is currently receiving care at the top trauma center."

• Teenager bitten by shark during lifeguard training camp in Florida

• Boy, 8, left bleeding and screaming in agony after 'stabbing' bite from fish

Annabelle is reportedly "stable and recovering" from the attack, which resulted in her losing a limb. "It was her right leg that received a bite from the shark," Adm. Elton Bennett of the Belize Coast Guard told ABC News. "So, she lost her right leg."

"Annabelle will have a very long road of recovery ahead of her," the GoFundMe page added. Local officials have since stressed that shark attacks in Belize waters are rare.

"I want to highlight that this is something that is very rare," Belize's Minister of the Blue Economy Andre Perez told reporters on Wednesday.