I love sharks, says smiling woman after horror attack
THE victim of a horrifying shark attack insisted “I still love sharks” as she was being wheeled away by paramedics.
Brave Anika Craney,
29, suffered severe leg injuries in the shock incident while working on a documentary about the beasts off the far north coast of Queensland, Australia.
Footage shows her also yelling out from the stretcher: “Sharks are beautiful.”
Emergency services were called to Fitzroy Island, 45 minutes by boat from Cairns and about three miles off the coastline, just after midday on Tuesday.
Terry Cumming, Queensland Ambulance Service critical-care flight paramedic, said Anika had been swimming about 100 metres offshore when her left leg was struck by the 6ft-plus fish.
He added: “She ended up with a possible fracture of the lower ankle and some lacerations from the bite.”
She was airlifted to hospital but remained “smiling and happy”.
Anika, an experienced diver, was part of a seven-strong crew filming a YouTube series.
Dean Cropp, boat the team the captain of the were on, said: “It has been a pretty tough year for her and a tough year for all of us with Covid-19 shutting everything down.
“She seemed to be more worried about missing out on the adventure then the injuries. While you hope it doesn’t happen to you, you know it’s part of the risk.”
Anika was flown to Cairns Hospital where she remains stable.
This is the third reported shark horror off the east coast of Australia in just nine days.
Dad-of-two Matthew Tratt, 36, was mauled to death on July 4 off Fraser Island in Queensland.
And Mani Hart-Deville, 15, was killed while surfing with a friend on Wooli Beach, near Grafton, in New South Wales on Saturday.