Woman saves swimmer from shark in Western Australia
SYDNEY —
An Australian woman raced into the water and dragged to safety a swimmer who was being attacked by a large shark which had already removed “huge chunks” from his leg, reports said on Sunday.
Joanne Lucas heard swimmer Jason Cull’s cries for help as she arrived at Middleton Beach in Western Australia early on Saturday, and immediately dove into the water to help him.
“Instinct just kicked in,” she told The Sunday Telegraph. “I didn’t even have to think about it, which is amazing really. I just thought I had to get in there. “I got to him and he said, ‘Thank God. Thank you so much—a shark has attacked my leg.’”
Lucas told the paper she concentrated on getting the injured Cull and herself the 80 meters back to the sand before the shark, believed to be a four-meter white pointer, returned.
“He had huge chunks taken out of his leg, his calf and the knee,” Lucas said of the 37-year-old school teacher who had been swimming with dolphins when he was attacked.
Cull was in a stable condition in Albany Hospital on Sunday after surgery for lacerations to his left leg.
Middleton Beach, on the far south coast of Western Australia, was closed Sunday as surf rescue volunteers and fisheries officials tried to drive three white pointer sharks out to sea.
AFP
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7 Comments
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PuffinMuffin
wow, agile, brave woman.
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Hughgarse
very rare to have a shark attack when dolphins are around...
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adaydream
She's definately a hero.
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PuffinMuffin
"very rare to have a shark attack when dolphins are around"
He thought the shark was a dolphin:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=560947
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Nessie
Good for her, but it's unlikely the shark would have been returning.
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smithinjapan
Good job! Nice to read stories like this when there's so much negative out there.
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Everton2
That is just the Aussie way. I suspect she has been swimming since she was 3 and is probably a very strong swimmer. Most Aussies are use to the water and have spent a lot of time in it growing up. That she jump in there and pulled the guy out is not so unusual down=under
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