07/04/2010 Sarah Haiden ( South Africa )

[sharkbait]

A UCT student, Sarah Haiden, 21, was attacked by a shark while swimming off Sodwana Bay in northern Zululand on Sunday.--


UCT student attacked by shark
8 July 2010, 07:18

By Marie Strachan

A UCT student, Sarah Haiden, 21, was attacked by a shark while swimming off Sodwana Bay in northern Zululand on Sunday.

The environmental science student fought off the shark while snorkelling 2km offshore at Two Mile Reef.

Haiden, who was working as a volunteer at Hluhluwe Game Reserve, went diving with three Dutch scientists who were working at the reserve.

"While the guys were diving a friend and I were snorkelling. My friend got back into the boat and I was swimming to the buoy where the divers had gone down. I started swimming back to the boat when I felt something bump me. At first I thought one of the divers was playing a joke on me but realised that they were too deep to have come up so quickly," Haiden said yesterday from her hospital bed.

"The next thing I saw this shark in front of me as it went for my legs. I kicked out at it as I had heard that you should try and kick them in the face to chase them away. It grabbed my left leg, and I kept kicking and screaming like a banshee. Luckily, for some reason it let go of my leg and swam away."

The Adventure Mania boat skippered by Jacques van Jaarsveld, who had taken the scuba divers out to explore the reef, had slowly followed her towards the buoy as the dive group were due to surface.

When the boat was 20m from her, Haiden started screaming and was pulled under water. A shark fin was seen breaking the surface next to her.

Within seconds the boat was beside her and she was pulled aboard and given first aid.

Another boat was called to stand by for the dive group while Haiden was rushed to shore where further medical attention was given.

With several severe cuts to her lower left leg, Haiden was taken to the nearby Mseleni Hospital and later transferred to the Bay Hospital in Richards Bay.

Haiden is due to be discharged today.

http://www.capetimes.co.za/?fSectionId= ... 393C385536

[sharkbait]

Student suffers leg injuries after shark drags her underwater off South Africa coast

By Ian Evans
Last updated at 1:03 PM on 8th July 2010

A student has been left with severe cuts to her leg after she was attacked by a shark off the South African coast.

Sarah Haiden was snorkelling at a reef a mile offshore near the Mozambique border when she was dragged under the water.

The 21-year-old had been swimming with three other divers and thought one of them was 'playing a joke on her', before she realised she had been attacked by the killer fish.

sarah_haiden1.jpg (56.28 KiB) Viewed 1467 times

Sarah Haiden, 21, suffered severe cuts to her left leg after she was attacked by a shark while snorkling near Sodwana Bay, South Africa

The crew of a speed boat which had taken her and the other divers to the reef managed to pull her from the water and she was rushed to hospital with injuries to her lower left leg.

Miss Haiden, who studies environmental science at the University of Cape Town, told the Cape Times: 'While the guys were diving, a friend and I were snorkelling.

'My friend got back into the boat and I was swimming to the buoy where the divers had gone down.

'I started swimming back to the boat when I felt something bump me. At first I thought one of the divers was playing a joke on me but realised that they were too deep to have come up so quickly.

'The next thing I saw this shark in front of me as it went for my legs. I kicked out at it as I had heard that you should try and kick them in the face to chase them away.

'It grabbed my left leg, and I kept kicking and screaming like a banshee. Luckily, for some reason it let go of my leg and swam away.'
Miss Haiden, who has been working at a local game reserve during the university holidays, said she was unsure what type of shark had attacked her at Sodwana Bay.

Aggressive Great Whites and Bull sharks are common off the warm Kwazulu-Natal coast at this time of year.

There are an average of six shark attacks a year off the South African coast, with a quarter proving fatal.

The student is due to be released from hospital today.


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