Beachport shark attack victim Pam Cook returns to the ocean

A Beachport woman who narrowly escaped the jaws of shark with her life has shared the moment she got back in the water.

South-East grandmother Pam Cook has bravely returned to the ocean where she was mauled by a juvenile great white shark just two months ago.

Ms Cook, then 64, was seriously injured during a daily morning swim at the Beachport jetty with The Sea Urchins and Slugs.

But on Sunday morning, she led the group back into the waves at the very same spot she fought for her life on October 2.

Great white shark attack survivor, 65-year-old grandmother Pam Cook, has returned to the water for the first time, wearing a shark deterrent ankle bracelet, surrounded by friends and family. Picture: 7NEWS

EXCLUSIVE: Beachport shark attack survivor Pam Cook has returned to the water for the first time since her horrific ordeal. 7NEWS was there as the grandmother faced her fears. Details in 7NEWS Adelaide at 6pm | https://t.co/8ftPfGh39Y@msariovski#7NEWSpic.twitter.com/iWAeaH9wWU

— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) December 10, 2023

“It felt really good,” Ms Cook told 7News.

“I was pretty nervous and when I first went in I was thinking ‘I don’t know if I can do this’ but then I thought about it and thought ‘no just breathe normal and you’ll be okay’ and I was.

“I wanted it to sort of be the final thing of the whole ordeal that now I can feel like I can just get on with everything and be normal again.”

This time, the swimming enthusiast and her friends wore shark repellent ankle bands – with scars a reminder of her life and death experience.

The milestone is just the start for Ms Cook who plans to hit the water daily just like she had done for 13 years before the attack.

She sustained a bite to her right ankle, her left thigh and injuries to arms and hands and was rushed to Mount Gambier Hospital after the attack – where she underwent five-and-a-half-hours of surgery, requiring more than 200 stitches.

Ms Cook was discharged a week later and has previously recounted the moment she felt something grab her ankle and described the shark’s jaws as “the width of a basketball”.

“When I looked around, the shark was having a piece of me,” she told The Advertiser.

Husband Greg Cook was at the beach supporting Ms Cook on Sunday.

“It’s just something she loves doing and I’m just so, so proud that she did it,” he told 7News.