Shark Bites Woman Carrying Baby

[mrmoshe]

Shark bites woman carrying baby

A 39-year-old woman has been attacked by a shark while carrying her baby in shallows of the Indian ocean in Western Australia.

Details were sketchy but the woman was believed have been bitten on her calf south of Coral Bay today, a Fire and Emergency Services (FESA) spokeswoman said.

The area, 1000km north of Perth, is famous for the closeness of coral reefs to the shore.

"A woman was walking in the shallows and apparently a shark came up and bit her on the back of the leg," the spokeswoman said.

"Her husband came along and saw it but was not able to identify it."

It is understood the woman is in a stable condition in the care of St John's Ambulance officers.

St John's Ambulance manager Danny Barron said paramedics were called at 2.45pm (WST) today and told the woman had been bitten on the left calf at Warra beach.

"We were initially told it had done significant damage to her calf muscle," Mr Barron said.

The woman's husband loaded her into a four-wheel drive and drove her towards Coral Bay to meet an ambulance, Mr Barron said.

She will be taken to Carnarvon hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

[mrmoshe]

Shark bites woman carrying baby

A 39-year-old woman has been attacked by a shark while carrying her baby in shallows of the Indian ocean in Western Australia.

Details were sketchy but the woman was believed have been bitten on her calf south of Coral Bay today, a Fire and Emergency Services (FESA) spokeswoman said.

The area, 1000km north of Perth, is famous for the closeness of coral reefs to the shore.

"A woman was walking in the shallows and apparently a shark came up and bit her on the back of the leg," the spokeswoman said.

"Her husband came along and saw it but was not able to identify it."

It is understood the woman is in a stable condition in the care of St John's Ambulance officers.

St John's Ambulance manager Danny Barron said paramedics were called at 2.45pm (WST) today and told the woman had been bitten on the left calf at Warra beach.

"We were initially told it had done significant damage to her calf muscle," Mr Barron said.

The woman's husband loaded her into a four-wheel drive and drove her towards Coral Bay to meet an ambulance, Mr Barron said.

She will be taken to Carnarvon hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

An interesting followup to this story in today's ABC Online:

Suspicions shark attack victim fishing illegally

A woman bitten by a shark near Coral Bay in Western Australia's north-west was allegedly fishing illegally in a sanctuary zone.

Becky Cooke, 38, was wading through shallow water with her three-year-old son when a shark bit her on the left heel on Wednesday.

Mrs Cooke was part of a group visiting Warroora Station in the Ningaloo Marine Park, 900 kilometres north of Perth.

In an interview from her hospital bed, she said they were collecting octopi and she mentioned using a gidge.

The owner of a caravan park in Exmouth, Lyn Soter, says something must have aroused the interest of the shark.

Mr Soter says some backpackers staying at his park have alleged there were fish bleeding in the water.

"They were there and allegedly the person involved that was nipped on the heel had been either her, or her party had been underwater fishing," he said.

"They had a gidge and they were towing some fish in the shallows, where she was wading back to shore."

Mrs Cooke is in a stable condition in Royal Perth Hospital after undergoing a second operation last night.

The mother of five is expected to remain in hospital for some time.

She does not yet know whether she will lose her left foot as a result of the attack.

'The sea turned to blood'

Speaking to the media from her hospital bed yesterday, she recalled how one of her sons came to her rescue when she was being attacked and she hit the shark with a camera to try to get it off her leg.

"As I fell into the water, the sea just turned to blood," she said.

"Browny came running over. He had his gidgee [underwater] with him and I just said to him, 'Take Ethan', and he grabbed Ethan and I just said, 'Here give me your gidgee and you run back to the shore with your brother'.

"So I sat in the water while the guys come running over. I wasn't sure if it was gone or if it was going to come back.

"I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my leg."

Mrs Cooke says the water only reached below her knees when she was attacked but she did not see the shark coming.

"The pain didn't start until I got to the shore. It felt like something had hit me," she said.

"It was pretty horrific for my husband, my friends and children. My worry was for my boys, as they were with me when all this was going on."

Mrs Cooke suffered two deep lacerations on her left leg, lost most of the heel on her left foot and had to undergo an eight-hour operation to try to save it.

"If all goes well, we'll be able to save my foot and the options have been given to me that it's at that stage where I could still lose my foot," she said.

[bobfish]

Wow, thats sketchy as. Illegal or not....poor woman.

Edited May 20, 2007 by bobfish