Lake Tahoe swimmer attacked by ruthless otter undergoes surgery

The Nevada swimming instructor who was viciously attacked by a “ruthless” otter in Lake Tahoe “has taken a bit of a turn” — undergoing surgery after an infection developed in her finger.Less than a week after the attack, Lynnette Bellin was trying to type on her computer when she “realized that my left hand was just not in a great place,” she explained in an Instagram video taken from her hospital bed.“I thought maybe I had some broken bones,” the 51-year-old said, pointing to two bite marks on either side of her hand.“So I thought, ‘Did they crunch some stuff there?’”The Reno resident visited an urgent care, and when an x-ray revealed nothing was broken, she was admitted to the hospital, and underwent surgery the next morning.“The surgeon opened up my pinky finger and rinsed it out with saline and did find there was an infection in there,” she explained in the clip.Bellin, who is working with an occupational therapist to regain mobility and is on IV antibiotics, can’t be released without getting cleared by an infectious disease doctor.“Who knew those were dirty little buggers?” she added about otters, who very rarely bite as there have only been 59 documented cases since 1875.Now referring to herself as “the Otter Lady,” Bellin was bitten by the brazen creature on Aug.

30 — and went viral for posting a series of videos immediately following the attack, showing her bloodied face, legs and hands as well as her blood-covered goggles.She was swimming at 8 a.m.near Hidden Beach on the shore of Lake Tahoe, when what she assumed was a human suddenly grabbed her leg and pulled her beneath the surface.“I thought it was a person until I saw the otter, and then it kept coming at me with teeth and claws.

I tried to push it away but this thing was relentless,” Bellin explained on Instagram.The attack left her needing 38 stitches and rabies treatment.“I made my way to a rock and it climbed up on the rock and kept attacking me.I...