‘Should be dead’: Sydney woman who survived suspected bull shark attack breaks silence

A woman says she “should be dead” following a suspected bull shark attack south of Sydney on Friday.

A Sydney woman says she “should be dead” following a suspected bull shark attack at Gunyah Beach, Bundeena, south of Sydney on Friday.

Mangyon Zhang, who goes by “Mani”, 57, is in “surprisingly good spirits” according to her partner Maria Masutti, who posted an update to social media on Saturday, adding Mani “intends to buy a lottery ticket.”

Ms Masutti thanked citizen rescuers and staff at St George Hospital.

A Bull Shark had been detected several times in the area in recent weeks with a spokesman for the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development adding, “A DPIRD shark biologist has determined that a Bull Shark was likely responsible, based on images of the bite wound.”

“Sutherland Shire Council has advised local beaches, including Cronulla Beach, Elouera Beach, North Cronulla Beach, Wanda Beach, Greenhills Beach, Horderns Beach, Gunyah Beach and Silver Beach, are closed until further notice,” they said.

Mangyon Zhang, 57, suffered severe leg injuries in a suspected bull shark attack at Gunyah Beach. Picture: Facebook

“DPIRD will continue to work with NSW Police and SLS NSW to monitor the area and provide any technical advice and resources if required.”

Bull sharks live in tropical and warm-temperate waters and can tolerate brackish and turbid water. They are considered one of the world’s most dangerous and aggressive shark species.

“My beautiful partner Mangyon [Mani] is doing as well as can be expected,” Ms Masutti’s update continued.

“She has quite a severe laceration to her outer right leg, to the bone – calf and thigh, and inside thigh,” Ms Masutti said in a social media post.

“Thankfully it missed the arteries.

Bull sharks are considered one of the world’s most dangerous and aggressive shark species. Picture: AFP

Ms Zhang underwent a four-hour surgery and is recovering, expressing gratitude to her rescuers and hospital staff. Picture: Facebook

“She underwent a 4 hour surgery yesterday, but they have had to leave the wound open to do another surgery next 48 hours to further clean and assess.

“She lost quite a lot of blood and had transfusions.

“She was brought around this morning and first thing she said was, ‘I should be dead and that guy saved my life’ (thank you Blake in particular, Ellen, Josh, Roger, Tomako and all those that rallied around).”

“It was a very traumatic experience and although she didn’t feel pain or see the shark (just left a strong ‘whoosh’ sensation and then numbness and lots of blood), it took a while to get attention and she couldn’t move her body to swim and was afraid of splashing in case the shark came back … she thought she was going to drown,” she said.

“Mani is now comfortable and in surprisingly good spirits and intends to buy a lottery ticket.”

Originally published as ‘Should be dead’: Sydney woman who survived suspected bull shark attack breaks silence