Lifeguard rescues woman from 11-foot shark off Sydney beach
A lifeguard paddled to a woman attacked by a large shark at Coogee Beach, helping her reach shore where she was treated before being airlifted to hospital.
A 35-year-old woman was attacked by an estimated 11-foot shark while swimming at Coogee Beach near Sydney on Saturday morning. The shark dragged her underwater, but a lifeguard on a paddleboard, Charlie Verco, responded to her screams and paddled toward the scene. > "I saw the shark come out of the water and just the size of it shocked me… I kept paddling towards her and the shark took her underwater and I was going 'What do I do now?' A couple of seconds later, she popped up again," Verco told The Sunday Telegraph.
Verco reached the woman, grabbed her arm and brought her back to shore. Bystanders, including off-duty doctor Ian Ferguson, applied tourniquets to severe wounds that exposed bone on her thigh. The woman was then evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in critical condition.
The incident adds to a recent series of shark attacks in Australian waters, where three spearfishing divers have been killed since mid-May, according to the Associated Press. Authorities note that while such attacks remain rare, increased coastal recreation and shifting marine conditions can raise the likelihood of encounters between people and sharks.