A woman attacked by a shark in Sydney’s south has told family she was paralysed in the water moments after the terrifying encounter and paid tribute to the rescuers who she credits with saving her life.
Mangyon “Mani” Zhang, 57, was attacked off Gunyah Beach, near the small village of Bundeena, on Friday afternoon.
Mangyon Zhang, who survived a shark attack at Bundeena last week. Credit: Facebook
Onlookers heard Zhang’s screams and rushed to her aid, jumping into the water and applying pressure to her wounds.
She was treated at the scene for serious leg injuries before being airlifted to St George Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
“My beautiful partner Mangyon [Mani] is doing as well as can be expected,” Zhang’s partner, Maria Masutti, said in a social media post on Saturday.
“She has quite a severe laceration to her outer right leg, to the bone – calf and thigh, and inside thigh.
“Thankfully it missed the arteries.”
Zhang underwent a four-hour surgery on Friday but will have to undergo further surgery in coming days, the post said. She has also undergone numerous transfusions due to blood loss.
“They have had to leave the wound open to do another surgery next 48hrs to further clean and assess,” Masutti said.
Masutti described the harrowing moments after the attack when Zhang was trying to raise the alarm but feared moving in case it provoked the shark to return.
“It was a very traumatic experience, and although she didn’t feel pain or see the shark (just felt a strong ‘woosh’ 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,” Masutti said.
Zhang credited her rescuers with saving her life.
Masutti reported: “She was brought around this morning, and first thing she said is: ‘I should be dead, I should be dead and that guy saved my life’.” She particularly thanked one rescuer, identified only as “Blake”, and several others who rallied around.
The couple also thanked well-wishers who have inundated them with messages of support.
“She is very humble and grateful to the whole community and amazing staff at St George,” Masutti said.
“Mani is now comfortable and in surprisingly good spirits and intends to buy a lottery ticket.
“Oh and she is quite chuffed that the media reported her as 30-something as she is actually turning 57.”
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