Woman critical after shark attack at one of Australia’s most popular beaches

A woman was attacked by an 11ft white shark while swimming off a popular beach near Sydney.

The unnamed 35-year-old suffered serious injuries to her arms and legs after encountering the apex predator 100ft from the shore at Coogee Beach.

She was swimming with two friends at 11.15am today when the shark pulled her underwater.

Lifeguard Charlie Verco rescued the swimmer on his 18ft paddleboard.

He told Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph he was shocked by the sheer size of the shark as it rose out of the water.

‘I kept paddling towards her and the shark took her underwater and I was going: “What do I do now?” A couple of seconds later, she popped up again’, he said.

Dr Ian Ferguson was enjoying the beach with his young family when he spotted a ‘big cloud of blood’ in the water.

He said the woman had huge bites in her arm and leg, including on her thigh, where the shark had torn out a huge chunk of her flesh, leaving her bone exposed.

After being pulled from the water, she was taken to a rugby field from where she was taken to hospital by helicopter.

At least four people have been killed in shark attacks across Australia so far this year.

This includes three spearfishing divers attacked since May 16.

Daniel Turpin, 35, was killed while fishing with his family off the coast of Michaelmas Island near the city of Albany last Saturday.

On May 16, diver Steve Mattabonni, 38, was fatally attacked by a 13ft shark at a reef on Rottnest Island outside Perth in Western Australia.

A week later, 39-year-old spearfisher Michael Jensz suffered fatal head injuries while exploring the Great Barrier Reef, as bull sharks were spotted in the area.

Australia’s first fatality of the year was a 12-year-old boy who died in hospital in January, days after being attacked by a bull shark in Sydney harbour.

According to the Australian Shark Incident Database, the nation has had an average of two to three shark-related fatalities a year since 2000.

However, incidents have become more common as activities such as scuba diving and surfing have grown in popularity.

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