‘Hats off to the first-aiders’: Woman endures marathon rescue after shark attack off Qld coast

A 57-year-old woman is recovering in Mackay Base Hospital after being bitten by a shark on her lower leg in waters off the central Queensland coast on Wednesday afternoon.

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Shane Tucker said emergency responders received a triple-zero call shortly before 4.30pm reporting the woman had been bitten on the calf while “snorkelling on a reef 200 kilometres from Mackay”.

A nearby naval vessel, the HMAS Warramunga, retrieved the woman from a private boat at 9.30pm – about five hours after the initial call.

The 57-year-old woman was likely to have received stitches when she arrived at Mackay Base Hospital.Credit: Google Maps

Tucker said the woman told first responders she had “two lacerations across the calf” about 30 centimetres long. These were bandaged on the private boat to stem the bleeding.

“At no time did the HMAS Warramunga medical crew sight the wound … they left the bandage on that the bystanders had applied,” he said.

“It’s hats off to the first-aiders on scene.”

Tucker said the woman was likely to have received stitches when she finally arrived at hospital.

The woman was in a stable condition when the naval ship met her, manoeuvring herself on board before arriving in Mackay about 12.45am on Thursday.

“The Queensland Ambulance Service was … in contact at all times with the patient and the boat,” Tucker said.

“I was understanding that she was quite alert – obviously in quite a bit of pain, and obviously probably quite shocked.”

He said the “very fortunate” location of the HMAS Warramunga and the fact the woman was “quite stable throughout the entire incident” were behind the lengthy rescue operation, rather than sending an airborne evacuation crew.

“Our first call from that was very vague as to the actual exact location of the incident. All we knew was that [it was] approximately 10 hours by boat and, as I said, 200 kilometres off the Mackay Coast,” he said.

“[A rescue] was going to be quite difficult due to the distance … so, absolutely, very fortunate that the navy were able to assist.”

There are a number of remote islands off the coast of Mackay, as well as outcrops of the Great Barrier Reef. Several shark species frequent the area, including reef sharks and more aggressive bull and tiger sharks.

Tucker said it was not known what species of shark attacked the woman.

The Defence Department has been contacted for comment.

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