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As 2024 draws to a close, we’re highlighting some of the top newsmakers in Mountain Brook from this year as part of our Newsmaker of the Year series. Today, we’re announcing our Newsmaker of the Year: Lulu Gribbin.
Since her return to Mountain Brook, Gribbin’s tenacity has proved to be stronger than ever, as she continues to amaze and inspire those in the community and around the world daily. From golfing to modeling, Gribbin has continued to prove that being a double amputee won't stop her from living life to the fullest, and for that reason she is undoubtedly crowned our Newsmaker of the Year.
Revisit our feature on Gribbin from October here.
Since her return to Mountain Brook, Lulu Gribbin’s tenacity has proved to be stronger than ever, as she continues to amaze and inspire those in the community and around the world daily.
Just three months after becoming a double amputee due to a shark attack, Gribbin can be seen on the golf course with a swing that could put some longtime players to shame.
Gribbin returned home on Aug. 24 to a hero’s welcome, as people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of her during a parade held in her honor.
Zipping through the villages on the back of a golf cart, Gribbin used her new prosthetic arm to wave to what were estimated to be thousands of Mountain Brook residents and visitors from nearby municipalities.
People cheered. Purple flags, shakers and ribbons were everywhere, some bearing the slogan #LuluStrong that the community adopted after Gribbin was attacked in the Highway 30A area of the Florida panhandle on June 7.
Near the front of the crowd at the corner of Montevallo Road and Cahaba Road, Emma Jayne Danella and Emmy Barrett, both age 11, did their best to get a good view of the 15-year-old Gribbin as the short caravan of cars carrying her and her family, escorted by Mountain Brook police cruisers, rolled past.
It was over almost as soon as it began. But just a glimpse and an opportunity to show support was enough.
“Lulu is my idol,” Emma Jayne said.
“She is somebody to look up to,” said Emmy, who attends the same church — St. Luke’s Episcopal — as the Gribbins. “She got bit by a shark and survived and kept working and never gave up through it all.”
Indeed, the story has captivated young and old alike since that fateful day at the beach that a family vacation turned into a life-altering experience. One of three people bitten by sharks in the area on that day, Gribbin lost part of her left arm and part of her right leg to the big fish, along with two-thirds of her blood. She might not have survived if not for the quick thinking of medical professionals who happened to be at the beach.
Since then, she has made remarkable but difficult progress in hospitals in Florida and North Carolina. On Aug. 17, she and her family attended a Carolina Panthers preseason NFL game, where they were honored and got to meet former Alabama quarterback and Heisman winner Bryce Young, now the quarterback for the Panthers.
On Aug. 23, she completed her rehab and walked out of Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte on her new prosthetic leg, wearing a purple T-shirt bearing the slogan "I made it." Videos of her preparing to come home and even dribbling a basketball using her prosthetic hand were posted to the @lulug.strong Instagram account, which has amassed more than 253,000 followers since being created.
That social media presence has helped those who knew her — or those just inspired by her story and her determination — to follow her journey.
“She is really strong to survive that,” Emmy Barrett said. “All her posts are so happy and upbeat.”
Scarlett Heidi, age 13, held up a hand-drawn sign that read, “We (heart) LULU!" during the parade. She and her older sister, Jenni Grace, were there with their family. Jenni Grace said she knew Gribbin through volleyball and that the saga has been shocking for her and her classmates. Jenni Grace doesn’t have social media accounts, but she often asked friends to look up how Lulu was progressing for her.
“It’s been really hard for those of us in our grade to watch her suffer,” Jenni Grace said. “We just wanted to be here to support Lulu and her family.”
That community support was evident along the roadway all the way to the final destination in Crestline Village.
Back in Mountain Brook Village, Emmy and Emma Jayne were still soaking it all in and proud of an instant snapshot they had gotten of Lulu as she rolled past. Although not even in their teens yet, they had a sense of how big community support would be for Lulu’s continued rehabilitation at home. A new normal exists now that she’s in familiar surroundings and recovery work is still ahead.
“I think it’s positive to see everyone come out and be supportive of Lulu,” Emmy said. “To not forget or pretend it never happened, but for the community to continue supporting her through this.”
What would Emmy want to tell Lulu?
“That it takes somebody to be really brave and fight it and to be OK,” she said. “I would tell her that I am really proud of her and the whole community.”
Emma Jayne smiled as she contemplated the question.
“I would say, ‘You are so strong and you survived this and you should be so proud of yourself. You are amazing.'"
Besides golf, Gribbin has also had the opportunity to reconnect with friends, even starting a spontaneous dance party after the parade, and to take the time to get adjusted since she returned home. Her family has spent the last few weeks learning what it really means for their home to be handicap accessible, and Gribbin has been going to physical therapy and completing schoolwork online, according to a Sept. 3 CaringBridge post by her mother, Ann Blair Gribbin.
“There are so many things that we have learned since being home. So many things that we have learned since June 7th,” Ann Blair Gribbin said. “One thing is for sure, Lulu is going to figure it out and nothing is going to stop her.”
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