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TREASURE ISLAND – A woman swimming in the Gulf of Mexico is recovering after being hit by a pelican.

Debbie Shoemaker visits Treasure Island every year from Ohio. On Thursday, she was splashing around in the water when the bird appeared out of nowhere.

“It was like somebody took their fist as hard as they could and smashed it into the side of your face,” Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker said she was terrified. There was no one in the water swimming nearby as she screamed for help. Some people on the beach called 911.

Shoemaker called her close friend in Tampa from the hospital.

“My first thought was a sting ray or a jelly fish,” Barbara Hatcher said.

Shoemaker had to have 25 stitches to close the three-inch gash in the side of her face. She says doctors had never seen anything like it.

“The event just keeps happening in my mind over and over and over,” Shoemaker said. “It could’ve gotten my eyes. It could’ve gotten my throat. It could’ve knocked me out in the water.”

Shoemaker returned to Ohio, where she may face plastic surgery. She hopes to have her stitches removed Wednesday.