"Shark Attack Survivors News Archive"

05/16/2007 Becky Cooke (Australia)

Shark Attack Survivors News Archive for Shark Attacks in 2007.
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sharkbait
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05/16/2007 Becky Cooke (Australia)

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Shark attack in idyllic Coral Bay

16th May 2007, 19:15 WST


A 38-year-old woman has been attacked by a shark at Warra Beach near Coral Bay in the State’s north-west.



The attack left the woman with severe damage to her lower left leg and she is being transported by St John Ambulance from Coral Bay to Carnarvon.

A decision on whether she will be flown to Perth for treatment is yet to be made.

St John Ambulance said the incident happened at the remote beach at 2.45pm today and the woman was driven to Coral Bay in a car, and met en route by an ambulance.

She was treated at the Coral Bay nursing post before being sent via road to Carnarvon.


http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx? ... ntID=28940
Last edited by sharkbait on Sat May 19, 2007 2:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
sharkbait
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Suspicions shark attack victim fishing illegally

A woman bitten by a shark near Coral Bay in Western Australia's north-west was allegedly fishing illegally in a sanctuary zone.

Becky Cooke, 38, was wading through shallow water with her three-year-old son when a shark bit her on the left heel on Wednesday.

Mrs Cooke was part of a group visiting Warroora Station in the Ningaloo Marine Park, 900 kilometres north of Perth.

In an interview from her hospital bed, she said they were collecting octopi and she mentioned using a gidge.

The owner of a caravan park in Exmouth, Lyn Soter, says something must have aroused the interest of the shark.

Mr Soter says some backpackers staying at his park have alleged there were fish bleeding in the water.

"They were there and allegedly the person involved that was nipped on the heel had been either her, or her party had been spear fishing," he said.

"They had a gidge and they were towing some fish in the shallows, where she was wading back to shore."

Mrs Cooke is in a stable condition in Royal Perth Hospital after undergoing a second operation last night.

The mother of five is expected to remain in hospital for some time.

She does not yet know whether she will lose her left foot as a result of the attack.

'The sea turned to blood'

Speaking to the media from her hospital bed yesterday, she recalled how one of her sons came to her rescue when she was being attacked and she hit the shark with a camera to try to get it off her leg.

"As I fell into the water, the sea just turned to blood," she said.

"Browny came running over. He had his gidgee [spear] with him and I just said to him, 'Take Ethan', and he grabbed Ethan and I just said, 'Here give me your gidgee and you run back to the shore with your brother'.

"So I sat in the water while the guys come running over. I wasn't sure if it was gone or if it was going to come back.

"I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my leg."

Mrs Cooke says the water only reached below her knees when she was attacked but she did not see the shark coming.

"The pain didn't start until I got to the shore. It felt like something had hit me," she said.

"It was pretty horrific for my husband, my friends and children. My worry was for my boys, as they were with me when all this was going on."

Mrs Cooke suffered two deep lacerations on her left leg, lost most of the heel on her left foot and had to undergo an eight-hour operation to try to save it.

"If all goes well, we'll be able to save my foot and the options have been given to me that it's at that stage where I could still lose my foot," she said.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20 ... 927415.htm
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Shark attack woman feared for her life

By Liza Kappelle

May 18, 2007 04:10pm

A WOMAN who was attacked by a shark on a West Australian reef says all she could think of was beating it off before it could savage her teenage son wading alongside or the three-year-old on her hip.

Mother-of-five Becky Cooke, 38, had her heel and calf lacerated by the 2.5 metre shark as she waded across a coral reef with two of her sons at remote Warra Beach, south of Coral Bay, on Wednesday.

From her bed in Royal Perth Hospital today she described how scared she had been when she realised she had been bitten and more sharks could be attracted by her spreading blood.

"All I could think of was getting it off my leg so I could get to shore because I did not know if it was alone, or if there were others sharks out there," Ms Cooke said.

Flanked by her husband Peter and sons, Brandon, 13, Hayden, 10, Jacob, seven, James, six and Ethan, three, Ms Cooke explained she had been wading in shallow water with Ethan and Brandon when the shark struck on day four of their nine day holiday.

"It just felt like something had hit me, at first, I turned around and I saw all this thrashing and the water just turned red.

"My son was with me, we were walking together, I just think thank goodness it bit me, not Brandon.

"I had my camera in my hand and Ethan on my hip, I started hitting it with my camera and shaking my leg trying to get it off.

"It let go, I took a couple of steps and fell into the water because my leg was pretty bad.

"As I fell into the water the sea just turned to blood.

"It was pretty scary, I wasn't sure if it had gone, if it was going to come back."

Ms Cooke said her main worry was the unidentified shark might attack her children.

"Brandon came running over and I said to him 'take Ethan' and he grabbed Ethan and ran back to shore."

She said she did not feel the pain until she reached the shore where she was given first aid, helped by her husband, family friends and two volunteer conservation officers who turned up at the beach just moments before the attack.

Mr Cooke said he used his mobile to call for help and then drove his wife in their four-wheel-drive to Coral Bay where she was taken by ambulance to Carnarvon and on to Perth.

She will have an operation tonight on her severe calf wounds, knowing she could face two years of treatment.

"I could still lose my foot, I would like to try and save my foot," she said.


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 61,00.html
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Wading woman attacked by shark in Australia



Sydney - A woman wading through the shallows off an Australian beach with her baby in her arms was attacked by a shark, officials said Wednesday.

The 39-year-old woman was grabbed by the leg south of Coral Bay on the west coast, an emergency services spokeswoman said.

The area, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) north of Perth, is famous for the closeness of coral reefs to the shore, the national AAP news agency said.

"A woman was walking in the shallows and apparently a shark came up and bit her on the back of the leg," the spokeswoman said.

"Her husband came along and saw it but was not able to identify it."

It is understood the woman is in a stable condition in the care of St John's Ambulance officers.

St John's Ambulance manager Danny Barron said the woman's husband loaded her into a four-wheel drive and drove her towards Coral Bay to meet an ambulance.

Her injuries were not believed to be life threatening, he said.


http://nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnew ... d=30034382
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