Shark attacks grandmother during her daily morning swim

A 64-year-old woman is recovering in hospital after an attack. Photo: Facebook

An Australian grandmother was mauled by a shark during her daily morning swim in the country's seventh serious attack this year.

Pamela Cook was swimming with friends along her usual route around the pier in Beachport, South Australia, on Monday when the animal grabbed her leg and began lacerating her thigh.

Ms Cook, 64, managed to push the animal away and call out to other swimmers, who held her in the water and applied pressure to her wounds.

Witnesses described frantic scenes as women walked towards them, covered in blood and screaming about help to bring Mrs. Cook to shore.

They said they were “lucky” that nearby construction workers on the pier had first aid equipment.

Greg Ray, a maintenance worker, gave her a tourniquet on his leg.

“There were a couple of women running in and they were bleeding,” Mr Ray told national broadcaster ABC.

“We immediately jumped up and went and grabbed our trauma equipment and first aid. equipment,” he added.

“The big problem for me at the time was shock, so I just kept her talking and being confident.”

Shark kill hot spot.

Read more Already more Ten-year-old Mrs Cook meets up with friends from the Beachport Sea Urchins and Slugs group for a swim in the ocean before starting her shift at the pub.

«I swim because I enjoy it and it's a great way to start the day,» she told a local newspaper last year in an article about the benefits of ocean swimming.

«It's just great exercise.» I've had heart problems too and it's good for your heart.»

Geoff Wells, owner of the Beachport Hotel where Mrs Cook works, told the Adelaide Advertiser the local community was in «shock».< /p>

«We're just a small community… I've lived here for eight years and nothing like this has ever happened before,» Mr. Wells said.

On Monday, as Mrs Cook's condition stabilized in hospital, authorities used drones to search for the shark. They believe it was a juvenile great white — the species responsible for the largest number of deaths worldwide.

South Australia's rocky and remote coastline has previously been named a «hotspot» of shark deaths, with 15 swimmers and surfers. over the past 30 years.

Prior to the attack on Ms Cook, the Australian Shark Incident Database recorded a further nine shark incidents in Australian waters this year, six of which resulted in injury or death.

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Last month, surfer Toby Begg lost his leg after a «sustained attack» by a great white fish in Port Macquarie, NSW.

In May, teacher Simon Baccanello was thought to have lost leg. died while surfing in a remote area of ​​South Australia, about 600 miles from the beach where Mrs Cook was injured. A witness saw him being dragged underwater.

16-year-old Stella Berry was killed by a bull shark in the Swan River in Perth.