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1959/05/07 Albert Kogler - California - *** Fatal ***

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sharkbait
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Re: 05/07/1959 Albert Kogler ( California ) *** Fatal ***

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It was ../about 5.30 on the afternoon of August 24 when 18 year old Albert Kogler and his new Girlfriend Shirely O'Neill decided to take another quick swim before returning home for the day

Shirley O'Neils account taken by the LAPD on the beach 30 minutes after the incident

"We had been in the water for 15 minutes and we had gone out ../about 30 metres from the shore when Albert said to me "lets stop here, it'll be over our heads soon"

"We stood neck deep talking and cuddling and after a few minutes decided to return to shore. I turned to the shore and was ../about to start swimming when I heard Albert scream. I turned towards him and I saw this great big fish hitting the surface of the water......... like it had dove from a great height."

"There was a real seething in the water and the tail of the big fish was thrashing ../about and causing a huge commotion and I knew he was fighting with this fish which must have been very big. It was then he yelled out "Its a shark! Get out of here!"


"I did a few strokes towards shore and then thought "I cant leave him here" so I turned back and swam towards the commotion in the water. He was screaming like he was in great pain and for a moment I saw the great beasts jaw biting down on his chest, it opened up wide and I thought it was going to let him got but suddenly the jaw clamping down even harder with a loud snap, it had just been getting a better grip. There was blood everywhere and poor Albert was howling even louder, it was an awful sound but what was worse was I could literally hear the feeding sounds of the shark eating him alive."

"Through the froth of blood a hand appeared and I grabbed and started to try and pull him away but as his arm was almost detached from his body I used it to get closer to the battling shark and Albert to put my arm around Alberts body and literally had a tug of war with the shark which was showing no interest in me but just continuing to bite down and rip at his chest"

"Finally the shark let go and I started towards shore with the bloody mess that was my boyfriend"

With a superhuman effort and unbelievable bravery she struggled for 20 minutes to drag him the 30 metres to the shore as the shark attacked and ripped at Alberts body

There were many people on the beach that day who witnessed the attack, but none were brave enough to enter the fray until Shirley had got to knee deep water

They lay Albert down on the sand and surveyed his injuries , one leg gone to the thigh, the other a mess of strips of flesh and muscle hanging like old rags and blood pouring onto the sand. One arm intact and the other almost chewed off near the shoulder but the worst part was his chest, the shark had bitten poor Albert nearly in half, his whole bottom torso was missing and bite marks in the form of clean and jagged lacerations were visible on his face, neck and shoulders......all bleeding profusely

Albert died on the beach and President Kennedy awarded Shirley the young American peoples medal of valour for acts of extreme bravery

At the autopsy medical examiners confirmed the attacker as Carcharodon carcharias............a Great White Shark measuring at least 4.5 metres long


http://www.biggie.co.nz/interaction/for ... 78&start=0
sharkbait
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1959/05/07 Albert Kogler - California - *** Fatal ***

Post by sharkbait »

Baptism on the Beach

Monday, May. 18, 1959

Buzz It was a sunny afternoon in San Francisco. Shirley O'Neill and Albert Kogler, 18-year-old freshmen at San Francisco State College, went for a swim off Baker's Beach, near the Golden Gate Bridge.

They were treading water about 50 yds. offshore when Al Kogler cried out. "I turned around," Shirley said later, "and saw this big grey thing flap up into the air. I don't know if it was a fin or a tail. I knew it was some kind of fish. There was thrashing in the water. He screamed again. He said, 'It's a shark! Get out of here!'"

Looking down on the ocean from the Presidio, San Francisco's history-encrusted Army post, Master Sergeant Leo P. Day saw what happened next. "I could see the boy in the foaming red water, shouting and signaling someone to 'go back, go back.' Then I saw the girl, swimming toward him, completely ignoring his warning. It was the greatest exhibition of courage I have ever seen."

Shirley reached Albert and seized his hand, "but when I pulled, I could see that his arm was just hanging by a thread." She slipped her arm around him and began to swim for the beach. When she was near enough, a fisherman threw her a line. After they were on the sand, Shirley, a Roman Catholic, scooped up some sea water and let it run over the head of her friend (who had never been baptized and belonged to no specific faith). "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost,"* said Shirley, making the sign of the Cross, and whispered to Albert, "Is that all right?"

"O.K.," he gasped.

She told him to repeat after her the act of contrition: "0 my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee. I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love."

Just before Albert Kogler lapsed into unconsciousness, he whispered: "I love God, and I love my mother and I love my father. Oh God, help me." Two hours later, in the Presidio's Letterman General Hospital, he died.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 81,00.html
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