Lifeguard helps save woman critically injured in Australia shark attack

A dramatic rescue unfolded at Sydney's Coogee Beach on Saturday when a lifeguard intervened to save a woman critically injured in a shark attack. The 35-year-old victim, whose identity has not been released, sustained severe injuries to her leg and arm after being attacked by what witnesses described as an approximately 11-foot-long white shark.

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I saw the shark come out of the water and just the size of it shocked me.

The incident occurred as the woman was swimming with two friends about 100 feet from shore. Lifeguard Charlie Verco, who was on his paddleboard, witnessed the shark emerge from the water. "I saw the shark come out of the water and just the size of it shocked me," Verco told The Sunday Telegraph. He described paddling towards the woman as the shark pulled her underwater, and her subsequent reappearance.

An off-duty hospital doctor, Ian Ferguson, who was present at the beach, noted a "big cloud of blood in the water." Verco, the first responder, found the woman too weak to climb onto his paddleboard. He managed to pull her towards the shore with the help of other bystanders. Ferguson and others applied tourniquets upon their arrival on the beach.

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What do I do now?

Ferguson reported that the woman had a 12-inch bite on her thigh with exposed bone, and a similar wound on her arm. She was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition, with injuries expected to require extensive surgery. Following the attack, Coogee Beach and nearby areas were closed for 24 hours. This incident adds to a series of shark attacks recorded in Australian waters in 2026, including the recent deaths of three spearfishing divers.

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There was a big cloud of blood in the water.