Shark Drags Woman Into Water By Finger As She Tries Feeding It

A woman was dragged into crocodile-infested waters by a shark as she tried to feed it during her “once-in-a-lifetime” trip in northwest Australia.

Melissa Brunning, 34, was on a friend’s yacht when she tried feeding four tawny nurse sharks moving around the back of the boat in Kimberley region. She was last of her friends to feed the sharks and did not realize that she was supposed to place the piece of fish in front of the shark and not hand feed it.

The shark which measured 6.6 ft (just over 2m) sucked her right index finger into its mouth, full of razor-sharp teeth.

“I think the shark was in shock as much as I was ... the only way I can describe it is this immense pressure and it felt like it was shredding it off the bone,” she told local daily The West Australian. “I came up and I was like, ‘I’ve lost my finger, my finger’s gone.'”

The footage of the video shows the shark pulling her into the water before she is rescued by her friends the crew. Throughout the video she is heard screaming and her friends calming her down by telling her finger was still intact.

"It’s not the shark’s fault at all, but it could have been a lot worse,” Brunning said adding it was completely her fault. She had to undergo a surgery to have the wound flushed out and cleaned. X-ray reports taken after the surgery showed that the finger bone was fractured.

“I’m not a shark victim, I have full respect for sharks, I think they’re incredible. I’ve always had the opinion that when you’re in the water, they’re top of the food chain, it’s their domain,” she added.

Brunning also said after the incident, she has learned to respect the marine life and to leave them alone.

“It was an unforgettable trip, I’ve got a cool story, a cool injury and I’ll have a cool little scar, but I’m just grateful that it wasn’t worse than what it was,” she said.

In April this year, two surfers were bitten by sharks in Western Australia’s southwest coast. While one man was bitten on the lower leg at Cobblestones beach, the other was attacked while surfing off Lefthanders beach.

“A shark popped up and pretty much ended up knocking a surfer from his board,” surf photographer Peter Jovic said, The Guardian reported. “There was a lot more thrashing around. After that it was hard to see what was going on.”

The Margaret River Pro surfing tournament was called off following the incidents.

“We have been alerted of a shark incident that occurred near Gracetown,” the organizers said adding, “The safety of our surfers and staff is a top priority. We have mitigation protocols in place and will be enhancing those when competition resumes.”