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11/05/2000 Ken Crew ( Australia ) ***Fatal***

Shark Attack Survivors News Archive for Shark Attacks in 2000.
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sharkbait
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Re: 11/05/2000 Ken Crew ( Australia ) ***Fatal***

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Family, friends remember Ken Crew shark attack
Article from: PerthNow

Glenn Cordingley

November 01, 2008 05:00pm

EIGHT years since West Australians were shocked by a fatal shark attack at North Cottesloe Beach, family and friends remember Ken Crew.
HAUNTING MEMORIES: Dirk Avery reflects on the November 2000 shark attack which killed his mate Ken Crew. Picture: Lincoln Baker
HAUNTING MEMORIES: Dirk Avery reflects on the November 2000 shark attack which killed his mate Ken Crew. Picture: Lincoln Baker
dirk_avery.jpg (9.1 KiB) Viewed 33066 times
DIRK Avery still swims at Cottesloe daily.

Not far from the waves and foam and around the same time each morning, Robin Crew takes a walk along the famous beach.

Sometimes they stroll together.
They meet afterwards at the nearby cafe Barchetta, which overlooks the Indian Ocean and the scene of the WA's most savage shark attack.

In front of other bathers, early morning joggers and cafe diners -- and with his wife walking along the same beach -- Ken Crew was attacked by a massive white pointer in waist-deep water at 6.20am on November 6, 2000. His right leg was ripped from his body.

Minutes later, the 49-year-old father of three died on shore in the arms of Father Brian Morrison. He had bled to death.

The shark also turned on Mr Crew's swimming pal, Mr Avery, who scrambled on to a reef and kicked at it with his feet.

He needed 75 stitches and skin grafts for severe wounds.

Eight years on, Mrs Crew and Mr Avery meet almost daily at North Cottesloe.

Mrs Crew, of Mosman Park, said the years following her husband's death had been difficult for her and children Rebecca, 30, Andrew, 25, and Aimee, 22.

She said: ``My children are very fragile and I respect that.

``My eldest was very sick after he died. They are just coping the best they can, and it is quite difficult.''

Brian Farley, 52, was another swimmer that fateful, misty morning. But he became a hero when he flung himself into the blood-clouded water to drag Mr Crew to the beach.

The Bicton man was awarded the Star of Courage, the second-highest of Australia's bravery decorations, for his ``act of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril''.

Mrs Crew stays in regular contact with a number of friends who saw the shark attack.

They include Father Morrison, who runs the Crisis Care Centre in West Perth, North Cottesloe Surf Lifesaving Club member Mike Rees and Mr Farley.

She said: ``I see Mike almost every day; he swims every day.

``Father Brian is in West Perth now, so it's a bit harder for him to get down here.

``I see Brian Farley; he swims every day. I see him very often.''

When asked if a memorial service was going to be held for her husband, Mrs Crew said: ``No, I don't think so. No. Everyone is just going their own way.''

Mr Avery, who lives with his partner in East Fremantle, has formed ``a pretty close bond'' with Mrs Crew.

He said: ``I see Robin most days down at North Cottesloe since this happened eight years ago.

``We meet down the beach for coffee and we go out as a group socially. That beach crowd tend to socialise a bit.''

Mr Crew and Mr Avery were part of a five-strong swimming group called The Pod.

They were nearing the end of their 20-minute dawn swim when the unimaginable happened.

Fellow Pod members Jerry Ventouras, Ann Vincent and Di McCusker were several minutes ahead and watched in horror as the shark attacked.

Mr Avery has overcome his demons and swims about 2km at North Cottesloe at 6.30 every morning, though much closer to shore.

The lawyer said the events of eight years ago now seemed ``a bit distant'' but could never be forgotten.

He said: ``The date is always remembered. You basically remember it every day you are down there (North Cottesloe).

``It is not something that will go away from your memory, it's always there. You cope with it. You take things as they come. I will take this to the grave with me.

``I have probably -- to a certain extent -- put this behind me now. I'm back into swimming, it's just one of those risks you take when you go in the water and go for a swim.''

But the emotional memory of losing his friend to a predatory monster sticks like mud to a blanket.
Mr Avery said: ``These are the sorts of things that touch people and remain with them.''

He has largely escaped the trauma of flashbacks, bad dreams and waking in cold sweats that people often experience after such a shock.

``I think I have had one or two nightmares about it, but that was a long time ago,'' Mr Avery said.
Asked if he had any feelings of regret, he said: ``I don't think you can, faced with those circumstances.

``Ken just didn't have a chance where he was and he wouldn't have known much about it at all.''

Mr Avery regularly meets Pod members at the beach and speaks to Father Morrison occasionally.

He said: ``Mike Rees is in the surf club, so I see him most mornings.

``Brian used to go very often, but he hasn't been able to get down to the beach as regularly as he would normally.

``We (The Pod) are a bit out of kilter with the times at the moment and we don't tend to swim as a group now.

``I will swim with Jerry if he is down there, but it tends to be that everyone has got different times now, which makes it difficult.''

Father Morrison said counselling had been available for witnesses two years after the incident.

He said: ``I know of one person who is still scarred. It is something that just won't go away.

``I have been on 30 international disasters to all sorts of terrible war zones. I have seen death and destruction so badly, but at least I know I can cope with it.

``In this case, the important thing was to do your best to cope with it.''

Father Morrison paid tribute to Mr Crew.

``That sense of the presence of the man is still with me,'' he said. ``Every time you are on the beach you get that because of the goodness and decency of the man.''

Father Morrison will hold a memorial service for Mr Crew at North Cottesloe on Thursday, the eighth anniversary of his death.

What were you doing when Ken Crew was fatally attacked by a shark at North Cottesloe in November 2000? Would you go back in the water?

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0 ... 09,00.html
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11/05/2000 Ken Crew ( Australia ) ***Fatal***

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A SWIMMER was killed yesterday in an attack by a 19ft great white shark Kenneth Crew, 49, a father of three****


Shark kills bather yards from family beach


By Barbie Dutter in Sydney
Last Updated: 2:11PM BST 19 Jun 2001

A SWIMMER was killed yesterday in an attack by a 19ft great white shark as more than 100 people looked on from one of Western Australia's most popular family beaches.
Attacked: Kenneth Crew had his leg bitten off in waist-deep water

Kenneth Crew, 49, a father of three, was having his customary early morning dip with a group of friends off Cottesloe Beach, near Perth, when the shark struck in waist-deep water a few yards from the shore. Witnesses to Australia's third fatal shark attack within six weeks described how a huge fin was spotted circling Mr Crew for several minutes while he flailed his arms.

Mr Crew, a businessman, whose leg was bitten off, was brought ashore and died soon afterwards in the arms of a Catholic priest, his friend Fr Brian Morrison. A second man was also attacked after swimming out and punching the shark's body in an effort to save Mr Crew. Dirk Avery, 52, received deep cuts to his right leg and foot.

Fr Morrison said: "I was in the cafe, and heard the shout, 'Shark attack'. I looked up and saw a very large fin and a man with flailing arms. I raced to the beach and noticed a huge number of people gathered. Some went out into the water - two in particular tried to push the shark away - while others took hold of Ken and brought him to shore.

"In a matter of seconds the shark had disappeared and all we could do was bring Ken on to the beach. We worked furiously with two doctors but there was no way Ken could have survived.I whispered into his ear, 'Kenny, if you can hear me I'm going to give you the blessings of the Church, so squeeze my hand'. He squeezed my hand twice and I think it was just after that point that he passed away."

Kim Gamble, who saw the attack from the balcony of his cafe, said: "There was a whole sea of blood. The shark was really huge and frenzied."

All beaches in the area were closed yesterday as Western Australia's fisheries department tracked the shark and tried to herd it out to sea. Officials said it would only be killed "as a last resort" as the great white is a protected species.

In late September, a New Zealand man on honeymoon and a 17-year-old surfer were killed in separate attacks in South Australia. The spate of shark attacks has caused alarm among Australian bathers, but authorities were keen to stress that such deaths are still rare. In the past 200 years, Australia has recorded 185 fatal shark attacks, averaging less than one a year. Three deaths in six weeks is considered highly unusual.

New South Wales has not recorded a shark-related death for seven years, and the last fatal attack in Sydney harbour was in 1963. Mr Crew's death was the first fatal shark attack in the Perth area for 30 years.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... beach.html
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