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08/02/2010 Kimberly Presser ( Florida )

Recent listing of shark attacks 2010 and Shark Attack Related Incidents in 2010.
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alb
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Re: 08/02/2010 Kimberly Presser ( Florida )

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Shippensburg University professor recovering from shark bite


By MARCUS RAUHUT Staff writer
Back on the beach: Her arm in a sling, Kimberly Presser returned to the Florida shore... (Courtesy)
Back on the beach: Her arm in a sling, Kimberly Presser returned to the Florida shore... (Courtesy)
kimberly_presser.jpg (32.13 KiB) Viewed 23000 times
Back on the beach: Her arm in a sling, Kimberly Presser returned to the Florida shore... (Courtesy)

Math professor Kimberly Presser doesn't expect many students to notice the shark bite on her left arm when classes start next week at Shippensburg University.
The last of the 150 stitches were taken out Monday and she has full motion in her arm. She may have to undergo physical therapy, but she said for the most part the wound is healing very well.

Presser realizes it could have been much worse.

"I was very fortunate it missed my artery and my nerve," the Adams County resident said. "I'm fortunate it bit me, rather than my small children."

Earlier this month, Presser was visiting Florida with her husband, mother, two children and two nephews to see her brother, who is in the military, take part in a change of command ceremony.

On Aug. 2, she was swimming in chest-deep water off the coast near Jacksonville when she saw something about five feet away that looked like a large fish, swimming in an S-shape. When it wiggled its tail, she realized it was a shark.

"I raised my arm up defensively and it rammed right into me. I fell over, and when I stood up I started running," Presser said. "As soon as I got up, I realized I had been bitten when I saw blood."

Presser yelled to warn others and immediately ran to shore, where she was taken to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Lifeguards called swimmers out of the water.

She doesn't actually remember the feeling of being bitten, which doctors said was likely a result of the adrenaline from seeing the shark.
Shark attacks are actually very rare. Doctors at the Florida hospital where she was treated told her she was the first shark-bite victim the hospital had ever seen.

Shark attacks are even more rare in northern Florida where the incident happened, but experts said this could have been the result of unusually warm ocean waters -- which might also explain how another boy, coincidentally from Adams County, was bitten by a shark in Myrtle Beach, S.C., just two weeks before Presser.

The attack was also nothing like the movies -- no ominous fin sticking out of the water, the water was not murky, and it was mid-day.

Presser was told when sharks attack humans, it is likely a "hit-and-run," where sharks take a bite to taste something. A human is not as tasty to sharks as, say, a seal.

Shark researchers weren't able to determine what type of shark it was based on the data. Presser believes it was about 4 to 5 feet long, but researchers suspect it was probably larger.

At the time of the attack, her mother and oldest nephew, 15, were nearby after riding a wave, while the other three children were playing in the sand.

The incident happened on a Monday, and they went back into the water on Friday, in part to make sure she and the children do not develop a fear of swimming.

"I didn't want it to fester for another year. I wanted them to know there's nothing to be afraid of," she said. "I do think more about those impossible things, but I don't want the kids to be afraid. On the way to the beach, my 6-year-old asked if there are sharks. I said sharks don't like to bother other people."

After the experience, Presser said she has lost some degree of comfort, but she realizes shark attacks are rare and won't let the experience keep her out of the water altogether.

"I grew up in Southern California and I swam a lot in the ocean," she said. "It's not something I have to worry about every day. If you were in a car accident, you'd have to drive every day, but I don't have to worry about sharks. I'm OK."


http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_1 ... st_emailed
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alb
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Re: 08/02/2010 Kimberly Presser ( Florida )

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Pennsylvania woman recalls terror of shark attack at Mickler's Landing
She received 150 stitches for bite on left arm
Provided by Presser family<br />Kimberly Presser underwent surgery to clean and close the wound from a shark bite on her arm. She was swimming with family at Mickler's Landing.
Provided by Presser family
Kimberly Presser underwent surgery to clean and close the wound from a shark bite on her arm. She was swimming with family at Mickler's Landing.
kimberly_presser.jpg (7.78 KiB) Viewed 25388 times
Provided by Presser family
Kimberly Presser underwent surgery to clean and close the wound from a shark bite on her arm. She was swimming with family at Mickler's Landing.

As Kimberly Presser and her family made their way to Mickler’s Landing Monday for a little beach time, Presser’s 6-year-old son Alex expressed a fear of being attacked by a shark.

“I remember telling my son that sharks are out deep and there’s nothing to be scared of,” Presser, 37, told The Times-Union this morning.

Lessons learned.

A 4- to 5-foot shark took a chunk out of Presser’s left arm Monday as she was wading in chest-deep water on the beach in St. Johns County. She received 150 stitches and was released from the Mayo Clinic late this morning.

The attack is the third suspected shark bite on the First Coast since June. There have been at least 19 "unprovoked" shark attacks in Duval County since the 1880. There's no record of having so many bites so close together as occurred this summer, said Bethan Gillett, spokeswoman for the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida.

Presser, a math teacher, said she and other family members came from Pennsylvania for her brother’s change of command ceremony tomorrow at Mayport Naval Station. She said she’s been to Mickler’s Landing in the past and loves to swim in the ocean.

Presser said she was in the water about 11 a.m. as her mother and a nephew passed her riding a wave on their boogie boards. She said she was facing a clear ocean when she saw the shark about five feet away.

“I saw the whole fish,” she said. “It wiggled its tail and charged at me.”

Presser raised her left arm in the water to protect her body and the shark took a quick bite that stretched from her elbow to her forearm. She said she turned and saw blood coming from her arm.

“I started screaming, ‘Shark! Get out of the water!’ ” she said.

Presser’s mother, Norma Collins, said she was startled by her daughter’s screams.

“I heard the words, ‘Shark! Shark!’ I was like, that can’t be,” said Collins, 64, also visiting from Pennsylvania. “Then I saw this arm with this huge bite out of it and I said, ‘Help her. Somebody help her.”

A lifeguard helped clean and bandage the wound before rescue arrived and took her to the hospital, where Presser underwent surgery to clean and close the wound. She said the bite didn’t do any major damage and she expects a full recovery, though she remains somewhat traumatized.

“I picture that shark everytime I close my eyes,” she said.

Presser said she’s not sure if she’ll return to the beach again this week, though she doesn’t plan to give up on the ocean. Her mother, however, said she might not be so eager to ride her boogie board in the near future.

“I’ll do a little more walking and shell picking,” Collins said.


http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010 ... rs-landing
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alb
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Re: 08/02/2010 Kimberly Presser ( Florida )

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Shark 'Shreds' Visiting Swimmer's Arm

Woman Was In Chest-Deep Water When Shark Came At Her, Rescuers Say

MICKLER'S LANDING, Fla. — St. Johns Fire Rescue said a swimmer was pulled from the surf at Mickler's Landing about 11 a.m. Monday with an apparent shark bite.

The middle-aged woman was in stable condition when transferred to the Mayo Clinic for treatment.

Rescuers said the woman who was visiting from out of town was in chest-deep water when she saw the 3- to 4-foot-long shark coming directly at her. They said she blocked it with her arm, and the shark dug in.

"She screamed, 'I just got attacked by a shark. Everybody get out of the water,'" witness Jen Moe said. "She came running at me, screaming. I looked at her arm and it was just shredded."

Witnesses said about 50-75 people who were in the water at the time of the attack ran for the sand when the victim screamed.

"When we came out, I saw her arm was all bloody, and everyone was like, 'She must have gotten bit by a shark,'" swimmer Matt Myers said. "And then all the lifeguards started blowing their whistles and telling everyone to come back in."

Rescuers said what made the shark attack unusual was that the water was crystal clear and, according to experts, shark attacks are usually the result of mistaken identity, but in this case it appears the shark was headed right for the woman.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38524036
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alb
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08/02/2010 Kimberly Presser ( Florida )

Post by alb »

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Authorities say a woman was likely bitten on the arm by a shark while swimming off of north Florida's coast.--


Authorities: Woman likely bitten by shark

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Authorities say a woman was likely bitten on the arm by a shark while swimming off of north Florida's coast.

Authorities say the woman, who has not been identified, was swimming in the ocean south of Ponte Vedra Beach Monday morning when she saw something come out of the water. She put her up and was bitten.

Authorities say rescue officials believe the woman was bitten by a shark, but that has not been confirmed.

She was taken to a hospital in stable condition.



http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/02/1 ... z0vU6EGkas
Last edited by alb on Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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