A woman has suffered a suspected shark bite on the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns – the third attack in Australian waters in nine days.
The 29-year-old woman, who paramedics say was on a “day off” from her job making a documentary about sharks, received a leg injury. A rescue helicopter has been sent to pick her up from Fitzroy Island.
As she was being wheeled from the rescue helicopter the woman shouted to reporters, “I still love sharks – sharks are beautiful”, Channel Seven reported.
A paramedic spokesman said: “We found a 29-year-old female with a shark bite to the left lower leg, doctors on scene at the Fitzroy Island providing first aid, so we continued the treatment and winched her over here to Cairns hospital. She is in a stable condition.
“The injuries are all to the left lower leg, a possible fracture on the left ankle and some lacerations from the shark bite.
“She was in a little bit of pain, but we managed to get that under control. She is great, smiling and very happy. As you can expect from a bite to the lower leg, there was some blood loss, but the first responders who happened to be doctors on scene, they provided initial first aid to stem the bleeding.”
The spokesman added: “She was relaxing on Fitzroy Island. She is actually doing a shark documentary and this is a day off today.”
The rainforest island, which has its own resorts and national park, is a popular spot for swimming, diving and camping.
Further details about the shark attack are unclear. It follows separate attacks in northern New South Wales and on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
A 15-year-old boy died on Saturday after he was bitten by a shark while surfing at Wilsons Headland at Wooli beach, near Grafton. And a Sunshine Coast man, Matthew Tratt, was killed by a shark while spearfishing off Fraser Island on 4 July.
