A 35-year-old woman is fighting for her life after being mauled by an 11ft white shark while swimming 100ft from the shore at Coogee Beach – one of Sydney’s most popular spots.
She was in the water with two friends at 11.15am on Saturday when the predator pulled her under. Lifeguard Charlie Verco, paddling out on his 18ft board, saw the attack unfold. “I kept paddling towards her and the shark took her underwater and I was going: ‘What do I do now?’ A couple of seconds later, she popped up again,” he told Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph.
“Woman critically injured in 11ft white shark attack at Sydney's Coogee Beach.”
Members of the public already had her in their arms when he arrived. “I was shocked by the sheer size of the shark as it rose out of the water,” Verco said.
Dr Ian Ferguson, enjoying the beach with his young family, spotted a “big cloud of blood” and rushed to help. He said the woman had “huge bites” in her arm and leg, with the shark tearing out a chunk of flesh on her thigh, leaving the bone exposed.
Emergency services were called to the beach in Sydney’s east. New South Wales Police said the woman suffered “serious arm and leg injuries”. Eyewitness Nicola Logan told Reuters she saw a “massive pool of blood” and a woman motioning to swim, “lots of splashing, and then a ski paddler was out trying to bring her in”.
The swimmer was pulled from the water by bystanders who began first aid, then airlifted to hospital by helicopter from a nearby rugby field. Several beaches in the area were closed as a precaution.
The attack is the latest in a grim year for shark incidents in Australia. At least four people have been killed so far in 2026. Last week, a male diver died after being bitten by a suspected 4.5m shark south-east of Perth. In May, a father-of-two was killed near Perth. Since May 16, three spearfishing divers have been fatally attacked: Daniel Turpin, 35, died last Saturday while fishing with his family off Michaelmas Island; Steve Mattabonni, 38, was killed by a 13ft shark at a reef on Rottnest Island on May 16; and a week later, Michael Jensz, 39, suffered fatal head injuries while exploring the Great Barrier Reef. Australia’s first fatality of the year was a 12-year-old boy who died in January after a bull shark attacked him in Sydney Harbour.
Since records began in 1791, there have been almost 1,300 recorded shark attacks in Australia, with more than 260 resulting in death. According to the Australian Shark Incident Database, the nation averages two to three fatalities a year since 2000, though incidents have become more common as activities like scuba diving and surfing grow in popularity.
Popular swimming and surfing spots in Australia do have measures in place to protect against attacks, but for the woman pulled underwater at Coogee Beach, they came too late.