Re: 08/14/2020 - Chantelle Doyle 23 yr - Australia
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:38 pm
NSW shark attack survivor recalls ordeal
A Sydney woman who survived a high-profile shark attack is now raising money to protect the apex predators.
Chantelle Doyle, 35, is recovering in Sydney's Northern Beaches hospital after she was mauled off the city's Shelley Beach on August 15.
The environmental scientist, who was bitten on her right calf and the back of her thigh, said she knew immediately she had been hit by a whale or shark.
"I called out, 'Shark, shark'," Ms Doyle told Nine News on Tuesday.
"Once I was on the board I realised 'I'm probably on my own here. I don't know really how this is going to go down. I think this is maybe it for me'."
The mother-of-one felt the shark, a two-metre juvenile great white, grab at her leg and described it as "a teenage boy at the pantry".
Her partner Mark Rapley jumped into the water and unleashed a flurry of punches on the shark until it let go of her leg, much to her surprise.
"I just went, 'What the hell are you doing'," Ms Doyle said.
Unable to feel her leg, she was flown to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital where she underwent surgery.
Ms Doyle said her stitched leg resembled a road map and knows it will be some time before she regains feeling, but considers herself lucky.
"It could have gone so differently," she said.
Rather than curse the shark, she has set up an online fundraising effort called Punching For Healthy Oceans which has so far raised more than $8500 for the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
"Healthy oceans mean a better future for everyone and that relies on apex predators - sharks," the page reads.
A Sydney woman who survived a high-profile shark attack is now raising money to protect the apex predators.
Chantelle Doyle, 35, is recovering in Sydney's Northern Beaches hospital after she was mauled off the city's Shelley Beach on August 15.
The environmental scientist, who was bitten on her right calf and the back of her thigh, said she knew immediately she had been hit by a whale or shark.
"I called out, 'Shark, shark'," Ms Doyle told Nine News on Tuesday.
"Once I was on the board I realised 'I'm probably on my own here. I don't know really how this is going to go down. I think this is maybe it for me'."
The mother-of-one felt the shark, a two-metre juvenile great white, grab at her leg and described it as "a teenage boy at the pantry".
Her partner Mark Rapley jumped into the water and unleashed a flurry of punches on the shark until it let go of her leg, much to her surprise.
"I just went, 'What the hell are you doing'," Ms Doyle said.
Unable to feel her leg, she was flown to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital where she underwent surgery.
Ms Doyle said her stitched leg resembled a road map and knows it will be some time before she regains feeling, but considers herself lucky.
"It could have gone so differently," she said.
Rather than curse the shark, she has set up an online fundraising effort called Punching For Healthy Oceans which has so far raised more than $8500 for the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
"Healthy oceans mean a better future for everyone and that relies on apex predators - sharks," the page reads.