Snorkeler dies after Hawaii shark attack

HONOLULU— A 20-year-old German woman who lost her right arm in a shark attack off of Hawaii last week is being remembered by her family as beautiful and strong after fighting to stay alive in a Maui hospital.

“We are sad to say that she lost her fight today,” her family said Wednesday in a statement through Maui Memorial Medical Center.

Jana Lutteropp was the first person to die from a shark attack in Hawaii since 2004. The incident is drawing attention from state officials, who say they’re getting calls from the public asking if beaches are safe. At the same time, they hope a new study will close gaps in scientific knowledge about shark movements around Maui.

Lutteropp had been on life support since a shark bit her on Aug. 14 as she snorkeled about 100 yards off of Palauea Beach.

A vacationing California high school teacher heard Lutteropp screaming, saw the surf flooded with blood and jumped in to save her. He swam her back to shore, worried that the shark that bit off her arm was still lurking nearby.

“I was really hoping it would be a miracle and she would pull through,” Rick Moore, 57, said soon after hearing of the woman’s death.

The family asked that donations in Lutteropp’s memory be made to the medical centre’s foundation.

“Jana was a very beautiful, strong, young woman who was always laughing, and we will forever remember her that way,” said the statement from her mother, Jutta Lutteropp and sister, Julia Broeske.

Moore said Lutteropp clung to his neck with her remaining arm while they made their way to the beach. She went in and out of consciousness and kept repeating that she was going to die, he said.

“I can only imagine what she was going through,” he said.

Hawaii officials announced Tuesday they plan to spend the next two years studying tiger shark movements around Maui amid what they call an unprecedented spike in overall shark attacks since the start of 2012.

There have been eight attacks statewide this year and 10 in 2012. Hawaii usually sees only three to four attacks each year.