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Gruesome video captures the moment a female snorkeler was attacked by a shark while vacationing in Brazil.
The footage shows nurse sharks circling Tayane Dalazen, 36, as she swims in Brazil’s Fernando de Noronha archipelago, when one speeds towards her and chomps down on her thigh.
Dalazen, a lawyer in São Paulo, is seen desperately flailing to get the shark off her as it begins to drag her down.
Eventually, the tour guide, Nego Noronha, freed her by striking the animal.
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“I felt him shaking my leg,” she told Brazilian newspaper O Globo of the frightening incident, which happened on Friday.
“I thought I couldn’t put my hand out because he might rip it off. Nego started punching the shark and it let go of me.”
Dalazen was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, while her friend, a dermatological surgeon, provided initial care en route.
The passionate surfer shared pictures of the bloody bite marks on her Instagram.
Despite the terrifying experience, Dalazen only suffered superficial injuries, with no damage to the muscles or tendons in her leg.
She was given two stitches, a tetanus shot and antibiotics at the hospital.
“Will I have a scar? Yes. But I’ll be a surfer with a shark scar. I think it even gives me some prestige,” Dalazen joked.
She said there was no food or blood in the water at the time of the attack, and there was a large group of tourists snorkelling in the shallow area.
“That area is a habitat for wild animals. We went into his habitat. It wasn’t a sudden attack. It was an accident,” Dalazen said.
Shortly before the attack, the same shark had reportedly bitten another swimmer’s shorts.
Brazil has the most shark attacks in South America, with numbers accelerating in recent years as a result of more tourism and overfishing.
English (US)