Stingray attacks Woman 68 and pierces her with a 6-inch barb, leaving “bleed” from her arm
A woman nearly escaped death after being attacked by a stingray while snorkeling in South Australia.
Pam Bennett, 68, snorkeled 50 meters in Treasure Cove on the Southern York Peninsula when a stingray hit her and pierced her arm with a 6-inch barb in a painful attack, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“I didn't actually see the stingray – I think he came from behind. He actually attacked. That wasn't their normal behavior,” Bennett told the media. “Soon after, I felt the barbs reach into my arm.”
According to the ABC, Stingray was in contact with Bennett while working with three other researchers on marine life surveys in the bay, amid an unusual number of fish deaths in the area.
The 68-year-old was attacked above her right elbow, causing her to “bleed” from her arm. The barb is stored near the brachial artery and requires surgery to be removed.
Photos of John White/Getty
York Peninsula, South Australia
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Marine biologist Mike Bossle was one of Bennett's team members and unhurriedly called her “brave” during the attack.
“We have to drive Pam out of the water, she is bleeding a lot, but she is a very brave woman, without panic or anything,” he said. au.
Bennett was taken to Yorktown Hospital for the first time and then to Adelaide, where the barb was removed from her arm, according to ABC.
Bennett told ABC: “It was actually lying next to the brachial artery next to the brachial artery, but it didn't penetrate the artery. I could have been Steve Irwin.
Craig Heydon/Getty
Yorktown Hospital in Yorktown, Australia
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Bennett said she was happy to survive the incident because she told ABC: “In hindsight, I felt like I won the lottery because I was surprised that it was me and not a kid.”
Despite the severe attack, she added that she still considered the stingray to be a “beautiful creature.”
According to the South Australian Environment and Water Authority, stingrays are “misunderstood by many” and have few chances of death from the injury caused in the attack.
“Stingrays are not aggressive. When there are divers and snorkeling around, they are curious and playful animals, and if they feel threatened to threaten their first instinct, it is swimming,” they said. “But like all marine life, people must respect Stingrays' personal space… Never threaten or turn around and always be alert.”
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