A pregnant Australian woman is recovering in a Thailand hospital after what she believes was a shark attack.
“I felt it tear at me. It felt like a shark. I’m from Queensland, so we have sharks there, but I wouldn’t have expected sharks to be here,” Jane Neame told the Phuket Gazette.
The six months pregnant, 37-year-old was rescued by her partner, Robert Passmore, after apparently being bitten on the foot while wading in shallow water on Tuesday.
“I’m pregnant, so I didn’t want to get too anxious. I wanted to stay calm,” she said.
“It’s very painful. It severed my tendon. The fish took it away.”
Neame says she may have stood on the animal which then bit her, injuring the bottom and top of her left foot
According to AAP, a spokesman for the Bangkok Hospital Phuket, Piyarat Techamanasikul, said surgery on the Australian’s foot had been relatively successful, although it was too early to know if she would regain full use of the affected toes.
Neame and Passmore, who are in the middle of a week’s holiday in Phuket, told local media that they wouldn’t hesitate in coming back to the popular tourist destination or going back into the water.
“I’m not scared. I love the ocean,” Neame said.
According to KnowPhuket.com there are several shark species known to inhabit the island’s waters, however none are said to be a threat to people and there have never been any shark attacks recorded in the area.
IMAGE: Jane Neame and partner Ross Passmore. (Via Facebook)