11/10/2023 Bridgette O'Shannessy Adelaide South Australia

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Diver bit in the face by shark needed to have teeth surgically removed
Rhianna Benson


Those readers that suffer with thalassophobia might want to stop reading now...

That's because an Australian diver came face-to-face with the stuff of literal nightmares while taking a plunge into the deep blue sea last week.

Bridgette O'Shannessy had been enjoying a free-diving session off a reef in Adelaide along with her dive partner Brian Gordon Peters.

Having explored the depths and breadths of the world's oceans on countless occasions before, there were no concerns in Bridgette's mind when she was getting into her diving attire.

Little did she know, that just over an hour later, she'd be rushed to hospital, having been bitten in the face by a Great White shark.

According to Perth Now, her dive parter Peters had managed to push the terrifying animal away from her and began applying pressure to her painful wounds.

Bridgette was then placed in a rescue boat and brought back to shore.

Off-duty lifeguard Ray Tomlinson had been waiting on the beach when he heard Peters screaming for help, just minutes after Bridgette was attacked.

He told 9 News: "I basically went over to assist getting the craft up onto the beach and securing it, at which time I realized there was a patient in the boat.

"He had applied pressure for quite an amount of time and the patient wasn’t in any stress."

Upon her arrival at Flinders Medical Centre, however, Bridgette was forced to undergo two surgeries, including having some of her teeth removed.

The university student, 32, suffered severe nerve damage, and had attained several other injuries.

But Peters later told Perth Now of his friend, who is still being kept in hospital: "She's doing really well considering the circumstances."

This news comes less than a month after a surfer endured a horrific encounter with a shark on 15 October, just over 5,000 miles away from Adelaide, at Hanalei Bay in Hawaii.

Kevin Kanehe, 50, was enjoying the waves in the island of Kauai in Hawaii on the Sunday when he was viciously mauled by a 15-foot-long tiger shark.

According to Kevin and KGMB news, the beast clamped its jaws down on his left leg, which led to the surfer to stick his fingers up its nose to free himself.

Thankfully, the trick worked and the sustained attack was stopped, with Kevin being able to make it back to safety on shore. But the surfer was left with severe injuries that would leave him bed-bound in hospital.


Though the shark released his leg, he was scarily close to losing it altogether as doctors told the news outlet that the surfer's actions just about saved him, as the shark couldn’t fully complete its bite.

Describing the attack, the surfer remembered that he was paddling in the water and had sat on his board to look around the sea when the shark attacked from the left side, latching onto him.

After he was able to escape, a witness named as Jeff McBride helped him to shore whilst and an unnamed woman applied a tourniquet and bandages before emergency services arrived and took him to hospital for further treatment.



https://www.unilad.com/