Woman's defiant words after getting mauled by shark off Cairns coast
A shark documentary-maker has been mauled by a shark while swimming at a resort island while enjoying a day off in far north Queensland.
The 29-year-old woman was bitten on the leg about midday on Tuesday at Fitzroy Island, near Cairns, Queensland Ambulance Services says.
"I still love sharks. Sharks are beautiful," the woman told reporters as she was wheeled into Cairns Hospital.
Doctors, who were guests at the Fitzroy Island Resort, applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding before a rescue helicopter and paramedics arrived.
"I still love sharks, sharks are beautiful!" says the 29yo shark documentary maker, just minutes after being mauled herself off Fitzroy Island. #9News @9NewsQueensland @9NewsFarNthQLD pic.twitter.com/rPrMUvprOE
— Maegan Gillespie (@meggillespie9) July 14, 2020
"She ended up with a possible fracture of the left ankle and some lacerations," paramedic Terry Cumming told reporters.
"She was in a little bit of pain but we managed to get that under control."
Mr Cumming said the woman had been swimming on a day off about 100 metres from a jetty when the shark attacked.
She was flown to hospital where she remains in a stable condition.
"She's great. She's in there smiling and very happy," Mr Cumming said.
Fitzroy Island Resort chief executive Glen Macdonald said the woman had been on a boat before the attack and emerged from the water saying she had been bitten.
#Update - A female patient in her 20s has been airlifted to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition with significant leg injuries following a shark bite off Fitzroy Island. QAS were notified at 12.08pm and first-aid was applied at the scene from bystanders. pic.twitter.com/WqwBCw1OUB
— Queensland Ambulance (@QldAmbulance) July 14, 2020
"She was laughing with staff and when questioned said she did not know what had caused the injury," he said.
It is the third shark attack in recent weeks off Australia's east coast.
On Saturday a teenager died while surfing at Wilsons Headland at Wooli Beach, off northern NSW.
That was Australia's fifth fatal shark attack this year.
The previous weekend, a 36-year-old Sunshine Coast man died after being mauled while spearfishing off Queensland's Fraser Island.
Last month, Gold Coast surfer Rob Pedretti, 60, died after he was attacked at Salt Beach at South Kingscliff in northern NSW.
A shark also killed 23-year-old Queensland wildlife ranger Zachary Robba in April off North West Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef.
Meanwhile, experienced diver Gary Johnson, 57, was killed by a shark near Cull Island in Esperance on Western Australia's south coast in January.
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