New Zealand girl, 14, uses body-board to fend off shark

New Zealand girl, 14, uses body-board to fend off shark

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A teenager from New Zealand has saved herself from the jaws of a shark by using her body-board to defend herself.

Fourteen-year-old Lydia Ward said she was at a beach near the southern city of Invercargill when the shark struck.

The shark, about 1.5m (4.9ft) in length, is reported to have lunged at her and tried to bite her hip.

Standing in water that only reached up to her waist at Oreti Beach, she said she hit the "big, grey, slippery thing" repeatedly with her body-board.

"I showed Dad and he didn't really believe me but then I showed him my wetsuit with all the blood coming out and he believed me," Lydia told Radio New Zealand.

Although not seriously injured, Lydia required hospital treatment for two of the deeper wounds.

Her mother told a local newspaper that Lydia thought she had accidentally stood on the shark before it had attacked her.

She said neither Lydia nor her 15-year-old brother, also in the water at the time of the attack, planned to go back into the sea in the very near future.

Shark attacks are very rare. Researchers say that more people are killed by bee stings and lightning strikes than sharks.

BBC News - New Zealand girl, 14, uses body-board to fend off shark


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lucky girl , though Lord only knows what she was doing in the briny in Invercargill

spitting distance from the South Pole that place .

Probably stepped on a sand shark resting on the bottom. Lucky kid; one that size could have really given her a nasty bite. Good reaction on her part.

Plucky lass...
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Originally Posted by Mid

Lord only knows what she was doing in the briny in Invercargill

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Hardy types us mainlanders...mind you, it does teach you to swim fast when the water's that cold...actually she's a bit of a whiss having a wetsuit...her brother was made of much staucher stuff...

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Her brother, who was swimming next to her, estimated the shark was about 1.5m long.
Lydia said it was lucky the shark had not attempted to bite him also as he was not wearing a wetsuit.

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It seems the shark protection act has seen many more attacks over the past couple of years particularly around southern Australia and extending up the New South Wales Coast.

Not to say that sharks don't take pride of place in our oceans but I am glad they don't go in my bars! :)

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Researchers say that more people are killed by bee stings and lightning strikes than sharks.

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Yes, but what % of the global population go swimming in areas where sharks go, against what % of the global population are in areas where bees are.

Researchers could also say more people have their arms or legs bitten off by sharks than they do bees, infact I would put that figure at around 100 percent more.

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Originally Posted by dirtydog

She said neither Lydia nor her 15-year-old brother, also in the water at the time of the attack, planned to go back into the sea in the very near future.

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Bit of an over reaction one feels...that's one body board soon to be on ebay then..bet Dad's pissed at that...
"Bloody things only a week old and cost a pretty packet, I can tell you"

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Originally Posted by Loy Toy

I am glad they don't go in my bars!

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What the cops stay out of your bars???? How do you manage that little trick...:mid::rofl:

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Hey, just noticed that she's ginger...that's what provoked the shark to attack...it's obvious now...
:smileylaughing: Ah ging-ger bashing again.....it's a hard and aggresive sport.

Just imagine how long it would take you to play dot-dot with her...
:sorry1:

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Originally Posted by dirtydog

Researchers from the Department of Pulling Useless Statistics Out Of Your Arse say that more people are killed by bee stings and lightning strikes than sharks.

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That's better.



Tough girl though, good on her.