Woman loses both arms, breast in horrific shark attack as family looks on during whale-watching trip
A French mother has lost both her arms as well as one of her breasts after she was attacked by a shark as she was swimming off an island in the Pacific islands of Polynesia.
The unidentified 35-year-old woman was swimming off the coast of Moorea on October 21, when an oceanic whitetip shark - which can grow up to 13 feet in length and are known to be opportunistic and aggressive - ripped into her chest and arms, according to AFP.
She had set off from Opunohu Bay to observe the whales with an experienced guide when she was attacked, with local station Radio1 reporting that her family, including her six-year-old son, witnessed the horrific incident.
She was quickly brought back onto the shore by boat, with a witness revealing that she was conscious at the time and asked, "But why did you take me there if it was not safe?"
"I saw this woman who had no arms, the arm on the left side was hanging down and her hand was hanging", the witness added. "The rib on her right-hand side was also swollen. It was a huge panic for everyone."
Jacques Riveta, the firefighter who worked to save her life, said the woman was very lucky because there were two nurses on hand to care for her and tend to her injuries in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
"Fortunately for her, there were two nurses on-site and they were able to give her first aid", he said. "When we got to the hotel's pontoon, she was conscious, but in a vital emergency: she had lost a lot of blood, she had both hands cut off from her forearms, and her left breast was torn off."
She was transported to the Moorea hospital before being flown by helicopter to the emergency room of the Taaone Hospital Center, on the neighboring island of Tahiti. She is said to be in a serious but stable condition.
Attacks by whitetip sharks, also known as 'paratas', are so rare and a judicial inquiry will be opened to determine the exact circumstances of this accident.