A woman attacked by a shark posted a chilling message on Facebook encouraging other swimmers to join her for an early morning ocean swim just hours earlier.
Michele Bootes, 63, suffered injuries to her hips, back and buttocks after she was bitten by a shark at Merimbula, on the NSW south coast, on Saturday morning.
On Friday, Ms Bootes posted on the Facebook community page Merimbula Merpeople asking other members to join her for a swim just after dawn.
‘Anyone keen on a 6.30am swim tomorrow (Saturday) morning?’ she wrote.
Michele Bootes suffered injuries to her hips, back and buttocks after she was bitten by a shark at Merimbula, on the NSW south coast, on Saturday morning
Witnesses heard the decorated surf life saver scream ‘shark’ when she was in waist deep water
Chillingly, she posted on Facebook if ‘anyone (was) keen for a 6.30 swim tomorrow morning’ on Friday
‘This morning’s swim in the rain was magic.’
The decorated surf life saver started her early morning dip from Mitchies Jetty at Merimbula about 6.30am before swimming to nearby Main Beach.
Witnesses then heard Ms Bootes scream ‘shark’ when she was in waist deep water, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Ms Bootes made it to the shore line, with a bystander calling an ambulance.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Bob Whitney said witnesses used towels to apply pressure to Ms Bootes’ series of wounds until paramedics took over.
‘At about 6.55am we received a call about a person bitten by a shark off Main Beach, Merimbula,’ he said.
‘The paramedics found some puncture wounds to the woman’s shoulder and hip.’
Ms Bootes was taken to South East Regional Hospital in Bega in a stable condition before undergoing emergency surgery.
She later declared on Facebook she was ‘fine and had surgery to clean out wounds and antibiotics (were also) given.’
In 2020, Ms Bootes named the Bega Valley Shire Citizen of the Year, due largely to her work as a volunteer lifesaver with Pambula SLSC.
Surf Life Saving NSW confirmed the incident on social media on Saturday.
‘Beaches from Wallagoot Lake down to Pambula are closed for 24 hours after a woman in her 60s was bitten on the hip and thigh by a shark while swimming at Main Beach Merimbula,’ they wrote on Twitter.
Earlier this week, terrifying footage showed hundreds of unsuspecting swimmers paddling over sharks named at Bondi Beach – about 500km north of Merimbula.
Aerial footage uploaded to YouTube channel Bondi Nation on Wednesday morning revealed the incredible scene in the waters at the iconic Sydney hotspot.
In the video, swimmers could be seen free-styling virtually next to the carnivorous beasts.
Some remained oblivious as they carelessly waded through the ocean, but others stopped in their tracks when they realised they were potentially moments from death.
‘Surely someone’s got to see him,’ a male voiceover said, as two beachgoers moved harrowingly close to the shark he dubbed ‘Norman’.
He’s going to go straight under you, mate.’
While the paddlers did not appear to have noticed at first, they stopped in the water after clearing the flesh-eating fish – bewildered by the vicious sight.
As more Sydneysiders free-styled towards an enormous school of salmon, the shark called Newman could be seen lurking in the middle.
One viewer said the sharks did not strike because they were feasting on a large school of salmon (pictured)
Some people swum through the school, completely unaware the predator was drifting in the middle.
Despite the potentially dangerous situation, no one was attacked.
Viewers took to the comments section to express their shock, and possible reasons as to why the sharks didn’t strike.
‘That’s amazing! But if I was one of those swimmers… I’d absolutely sh*t myself if I turned around and saw one of those sharks,’ one user wrote.
‘Of course the sharks didn’t attack look how much food was surrounding them,’ another suggested.