Paige Winter, the 17-year-old who lost a leg in a shark attack off the coast of North Carolina earlier this month, said she didn't understand what was happening at first. 

"I'm like, 'Is this, like, a snapping turtle? Like, what's happening?'" she told "Good Morning America." "Then it just starts. Like a dog [when] they get a rope and you grab the other rope and they just start going."

She said at first she gave up, thinking she was gone for good, and then she decided that she was going to fight. 

Meanwhile, Paige's father, Charlie Winter, jumped into action when he noticed his daughter was in trouble. 

"You could tell where she was because you could see pink on the water," he said. "I dove under. It was about 5 feet. She was already getting pulled back and so I dove in where ⁠— she was movin' back. That's where I dove in and I grabbed her."

He punched the shark repeatedly until it let Paige go, he said.

"I just immediately just start beating it with everything I could," he recalled. 

Paige lost several fingers and a leg in the attack, but she's not letting it hold her back. 

"I'm still Paigey. Just a little different," she said. "... I'd rather have to go through this tough journey than, like, not being able to use my hands. Not being able to, like, walk."

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