The screams cut through the late afternoon calm at Dorsch Beach without warning.
Christopher Carroll had just returned to his second-floor room at Sand Castle on the Beach, fresh from an afternoon of scuba diving off the Frederiksted Pier. Standing on his balcony Thursday afternoon, waiting for his wife to finish showering, Carroll said he heard what he described as an “ungodly screaming” coming from the shoreline below — a sound so urgent he immediately knew something was wrong.
“I thought it was some kind of medical emergency,” Carroll said. “I ran straight down from my room and hit the beach.”
On the sand, people were pointing toward the water. A lone swimmer was visible offshore. Voices carried a single message: a woman was in trouble.
Carroll, a former lifeguard and current nurse from Utah, ran down the beach and swam out toward her. As he closed the distance — roughly 10 yards away — he said he saw a large pool of blood spreading through the water.
“That’s when I realized this wasn’t just a swimmer in distress,” he said.
Carroll reached the woman and turned her onto her back to tow her toward shore. He said her injuries were large: her left arm had been severed below the elbow, with only the upper portion of the humerus visible. Based on the size and nature of the wound, Carroll said he believed she had been bitten by a large shark.
Despite her injuries, the woman was conscious.
“She was talking,” Carroll said. “I just kept trying to reassure her.”
As he pulled her closer to shore, Ryan Connot, a visitor from Nebraska who had been snorkeling nearby with family members, swam out to help. Connot, a lineman trained in CPR, was packing up to leave the beach when he heard the screams.
“I didn’t know what it was,” Connot said. “I just knew she needed help.”
Connot grabbed his snorkeling fins and swam toward the woman. When he reached Carroll, he was told it was a shark attack and that the woman’s arm was gone. The water around them, he said, was heavily bloodied.
“I grabbed her hand and started paddling with my feet back toward shore,” Connot said, while Carroll supported her upper body to keep her above water. As they moved in, both men yelled to the beach for someone to call 911 and asked if anyone had supplies to make a tourniquet.
Neither rescuer reported seeing the shark.
By the time they reached the shallows, several beachgoers rushed forward to help lift the woman from the water. Carroll said she remained conscious on the sand and was still responding when he spoke to her.
“She told us her name was Arlene,” Connot said. “That was about halfway back. I think that was the last thing she said.”
Carroll recalled her telling him, “I’m going to die.”
“I just kept saying, ‘No, Arlene, you’re going to be okay,’” he said. “I figured if we got her to a hospital, she’d have a fighting chance.”
Once on shore, bystanders and medical professionals on the beach attempted to render aid. Carroll said the woman had lost a significant amount of blood and had become pale, with blue discoloration around her lips. Emergency medical personnel arrived with a backboard and transported her by ambulance.
Later that evening, Carroll said a police officer taking his statement informed him that the woman had died.
Authorities confirmed Thursday night that the victim succumbed to her injuries. She was identified by next of kin as Arlene Lillis, 56, of Minnesota, according to police.
In a late-night statement Thursday, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Lt. Gov. Tregenza A. Roach confirmed the death and described the incident as a suspected shark attack. Both leaders expressed condolences to Lillis’ family and gratitude to the beachgoers and first responders who acted quickly.
“We are grateful to the bystanders who acted immediately to render aid and to the first responders who worked urgently and bravely in an effort to save her life,” Bryan said.
Government House said officials are coordinating with the Virgin Islands Police Department, St. Croix Rescue, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Coast Guard, which conducted a search of the area following the incident. No further details about the shark or incident were released Thursday night.
For both rescuers, the event unfolded in minutes — though neither said it felt that way.
“When you’re in that situation, time stretches,” Carroll said. “But from when I heard the screams to when I got to her, it couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes.”
Carroll said he and his wife were on St. Croix celebrating their anniversary, visiting the island for the first time. Connot said he had been on island just a few days and was visiting family.
Both men emphasized they did not hesitate to act.
“I would hope someone would do the same for me,” Connot said. “That’s how I try to live.”
Carroll echoed that sentiment.
“If anything comes out of this,” he said, “I just want people to care enough about each other to help — in any way you can.”
