A girl was attacked by an 11ft white shark while swimming off a well-liked beach near Sydney.
The unnamed 35-year-old suffered serious injuries to her legs and arms after encountering the apex predator 100ft from the shore at Coogee Beach.
She was swimming with two friends at 11.15am today when the shark pulled her underwater.
Lifeguard Charlie Verco rescued the swimmer on his 18ft paddleboard.
He told Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph he was shocked by the sheer size of the shark because it rose out of the water.
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‘I kept paddling towards her and the shark took her underwater and I used to be going: “What do I do now?” A few seconds later, she popped up again’, he said.
Dr Ian Ferguson was having fun with the beach along with his young family when he spotted a ‘big cloud of blood’ within the water.
He said the girl had huge bites in her arm and leg, including on her thigh, where the shark had torn out an enormous chunk of her flesh, leaving her bone exposed.
After being pulled from the water, she was taken to a rugby field from where she was taken to hospital by helicopter.
Not less than 4 people have been killed in shark attacks across Australia up to now this yr.
This includes three spearfishing divers attacked since May 16.
Daniel Turpin, 35, was killed while fishing along with his family off the coast of Michaelmas Island near town of Albany last Saturday.
On May 16, diver Steve Mattabonni, 38, was fatally attacked by a 13ft shark at a reef on Rottnest Island outside Perth in Western Australia.
Per week later, 39-year-old spearfisher Michael Jensz suffered fatal head injuries while exploring the Great Barrier Reef, as bull sharks were spotted in the world.
Australia’s first fatality of the yr was a 12-year-old boy who died in hospital in January, days after being attacked by a bull shark in Sydney harbour.
In accordance with the Australian Shark Incident Database, the nation has had a mean of two to 3 shark-related fatalities a yr since 2000.
Nevertheless, incidents have turn into more common as activities equivalent to scuba diving and browsing have grown in popularity.
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