Long recovery ahead for victim of shark attack in Torres Strait
KAMILA de Wit heard a loud “bang” and spun around in the water to see husband Craig floating nearby, surrounded in a cloud of his own blood.
KAMILA de Wit heard a loud “bang” and spun around in the water to see husband Craig floating nearby, surrounded in a cloud of his own blood.
The ominous sight of a large bull shark was disappearing over a nearby ridge.
In a remote corner of the Torres Strait they faced an arduous and lengthy dash for help – using a boat, helicopter and plane to finally reach Cairns on Sunday.
But three days on and despite now likely to spend at least another week in hospital, sporting plaster from fingertips to shoulder on his left arm and with dozens of stitches crisscrossing his body, the couple count themselves lucky.
“When the shark hit me I thought I was gone, I really did, because it was a very large shark,” the 55-year-old experienced Papua New Guinea-based dive boat skipper recalled.
“There was no two ways, ifs, buts, maybes about it, it had plenty of mouth to take me in half.”
Teeth marks on both his knuckle and bicep show the cavernous size of the bull shark’s mouth which struck him as the couple scuba dived about 15m under the water at the southern tip of Boot Reef in the Torres Strait.
They slowly resurfaced, constantly glancing over their shoulders for fear the animal would return and Kamila armed herself with the camera Craig had dropped to use as a weapon if needed.
The couple had made the trip to the remote reefs west of Murray Island with a group of friends to see their condition after last year’s bleaching event.
Among that group of friends were a paramedic, a surgeon and a nurse.
Craig and his family are adamant some higher powers may have been at work.
“(The paramedic) had a premonition that he had to get out of the water early and he actually broke his safety stop because he thought “I’ve got to get out”.
“He met us as soon as we got back to the boat and he was able to control everything.”
The quick action of his friends has been praised by emergency services and tomorrow he will undergo a third bout of surgery to reattach the muscles and nerves in his left hand.
Doctors have told him he then faces about 12 months recovery, although hopes to be back in the water before then.
“I’ll have some movement initially. Hopefully it won’t keep me out of the water 12 months, but definitely to full mobility,” he said.
He also harbours no ill will towards the shark which attacked him.
“I’m not blaming the shark, it tasted, said ‘OK it’s not what I was expecting’ and thankfully left us alone,” he said.
“I have done over 10,000 dives before, I’ve dived with sharks plenty of times, I love the creatures.
“I understand bull sharks, in particular, are dangerous.
“I certainly won’t go looking for them, but they are on the reef, it’s their world.”
Originally published as Long recovery ahead for victim of shark attack in Torres Strait
