Snorkeler Survives Tiger Shark Attack On Oahu

Justin Cote

July 31 2008
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2 comments

A woman on the Hawaiian island of Oahu has survived a shark attack. She was injured while snorkeling on the western side of the island. The Honolulu Advertiser has a report:

Roger Debebar and Anthony Chapman don’t claim they did anything heroic yesterday when an injured and bleeding woman approached them around 8:40 a.m. near the edge of the beach at the Hawaiian Princess condominiums and spoke three words:

“Help, please,” said the woman, who had been snorkeling moments earlier. “Shark.”

But Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city’s emergency service department, said the two men’s quick actions may have made all the difference in the state’s first shark attack of the year….

“Chapman, 49, said the woman was “bleeding bad and she had a chunk taken out of her arm.”

Ten minutes after the woman was injured, a lifeguard on a Yamaha Waverunner and officers in the Honolulu Police Department’s helicopter spotted what appeared to be “a very large shark, approximately 16 feet in length,” Cheplic said.

2 Comments For This Post

beth coggin Says:
March 14th, 2009 at 5:31 pm

My family is heading to Oahu in July 2009 and snorkeling is a definate. I noticed the picture of the beach where the woman was attacked and was wondering did she go beyond the safety of the reef, was she right around the rocky area or was she inside of the horseshoe???

Ted Says:
June 12th, 2009 at 12:38 am

This picture is NOT the beach where she was attacked. This is a picture of Ko’Olina and is one of the safest beaches on the island. Even outside the protected reef here I am not aware of ANY shark sitings in this area, let alone any attacks. The woman was out at Makaha Beach about 10 miles west of here.