Suddenly a red stain appeared in the water and the lifeguards heard the cries for help.
One of the guards managed to drag Tatyana Koltunyuk, 65, to the beach, after a shark had just torn a piece of meat from her left leg.
Once in the sand, they applied a tourniquet, using sweatpants and a lifeguard rope, so that she would not bleed to death until she was evacuated to the Jamaica hospital, in the New York district of Queens. Her condition was serious, but stable.
The watchmen ordered all bathers out of the water. This Wednesday bathing was authorized, prohibited from the moment of the incident, after the police deployed drones to control the beaches of Rockaway in Queens, Coney Island in Brooklyn and Orchard in the Bronx.
Despite the device, there were bathers who were wary. They sunbathed, although without going beyond getting their feet wet. Koltunyuk, who last Monday afternoon was swimming alone at Rockaway Beach, one of the most popular in the Big Apple, has entered the history of the metropolis.
The bite suffered by this swimmer is the first confirmed on the New York coast since the 1950s, according to a database that records these encounters (Global Shark Attack File). The last documented case occurred in 1958, when a man was bitten by a speared shark after provoking it. These records indicate that there have been 20 unprovoked attacks by these predators since 1837.
In 2017, surfer Michah Behrend suffered foot injuries that required 40 stitches. The next day, a baby white shark was sighted not far from where the surfer had been. However, experts ruled out that his injury was consistent with a shark bite and what caused it was never determined.
Behrend, 38, has continued his sports practice and on Saturday was practicing near the place where Kontulyuk was injured.
Those responsible for the Queens park pointed out that this attack is the first of which there is evidence in the recent memory of the city. “I had never heard of any injuries in our waters, despite working with sharks for 30 years,” New York Aquarium scientist Hans Walter told The New York Times.
"The wound itself - he pointed out regarding this last bite - is also unusual."
