02 October 2023 , 15:21
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A woman was attacked twice by the same shark as she took part in an early morning swimming class.
Pam Cook, 64, screamed as what was thought to be a great white shark mauled her in Beachport, South Australia, on Monday (October 2). She was luckily pulled out of the water by beachgoers and received first aid until ambulance crews arrived.
The victim is thought to have been part of local swimming group Beachport Sea Urchins and Slugs, with around a dozen members also in the water at the time of the incident. She was rushed to nearby Mount Gambier hospital with serious yet stable injuries.
Pam suffered serious injuries and was rushed to hospital (Facebook)Greg Rae, one of Pam's rescuers, told ABC News: "There was a couple of ladies running in and they were covered in a bit of blood and they mentioned a shark attack. We immediately just jumped in, went and grabbed our trauma gear and first aid equipment and then responded."
He added: "The shark attacked her foot first and then... had another go, and that's where the big laceration was. She was just lucky that it didn't hit a main artery." Witnesses described how she was attacked twice by the shark and suffered multiple wounds to her thigh and a cut on her hand.
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Emergency services were called out to the incident around 7:45am (7 News)Locals Silvana and Mishelle Jewell were also on the beach at around 7:45am when they heard Pam screaming. Silvana as first thought she was just waving to her friends until the witness realised that something serious was instead happening.
"We went running down the jetty and I said to Mishelle, 'Call an ambulance'. We've never heard of a shark down here. It was horrifying, just horrifying," she said.
SES South Australia is now preparing to launch drones in a bid to identify the shark, which is believed to be a juvenile great white.
An SES spokesperson said: "Our crews have been requested to assist South Australian police with a drone search. We've got two crews currently there at the moment and we are just waiting for our flight plans to be approved so our pilots can put our drones up."