Sydney Harbour shark attack victim Lauren O’Neill praises ‘heroic neighbours’ who saved her
A woman attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour has praised the “heroic” neighbours who came to her aid.
Lauren O’Neill was swimming close to the shore near her home in Elizabeth Bay when her leg was bitten by one of the creatures on Monday evening.
The 29-year-old was helped by residents in the area – including a local vet who had just purchased a set of bandages, which she used to create a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.
Surgeons worked through the night to save Ms O’Neill’s leg from amputation, according to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
She is expected to make a full recovery.
In a statement, released through the hospital where she is being treated, Ms O’Neill thanked her “heroic and very kind neighbours for the critical assistance they provided her”.
She added that her likely recovery was a “testament to their extraordinary skills”.
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Woman injured in Sydney shark attack
Police in New South Wales said Ms O’Neill suffered a “serious injury” to her right leg during the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by a bull shark.
The incident happened about 20 metres from a jetty in Elizabeth Bay, an upmarket inner-city suburb near the iconic Sydney Opera House and the city’s central business district.
Shark sightings along Sydney’s ocean-facing beaches are common, and the harbour is known to be an important habitat for bull sharks and their young.
However, shark scientist Amy Smoothey said attacks in the area were “really rare”.
“The last incident that occurred in Sydney Harbour was in 2009,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Elizabeth Bay, Sydney
Known for their aggressive, territorial nature, bull sharks are large and usually found in warm, shallow waters, but can survive in fresh waters and are known to swim up rivers.
Bull sharks, great whites, and tiger sharks are responsible for most recorded unprovoked attacks on humans.
Experts believe a bull shark was behind the attack. File pic: iStock
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In 2009, an Australian navy clearance diver was mauled by a bull shark during a training exercise in the harbour. The shark tore off his arm and part of his leg.
In February 2022, a 35-year-old British expat was fatally mauled by a shark while swimming off the coast of Sydney.
It was Sydney’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.
Despite its 16,000 miles of coastline and famous beach culture, there are more unprovoked shark attacks reported in the US than in Australia.
There were 455 recorded attacks in the US, compared with 161 in Australia, between 2011 and 2020, according to data from Australia Wide First Aid.
However, it said Australia has considerably more fatal attacks, with 22 compared to seven during the same period.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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