Shark bit mum in half in entrance of quadruplets then returned to eat stays
A mum-of-five was ripped apart in front of her screaming family by a monstrous 12ft shark as she dived with sea lions.
Therese Cartwright, 35 was pulled beneath the surface in a spray of froth and blood before being cut in half in one powerful bite. Her legs were left detached from the rest of her body and were devoured by the beast before it disappeared.
The incident off the coast of Tenth Island, Tasmania, Austrailia in 1993 was witnessed by her husband, Ian and children including her six-year-old quadruplets who were on a boat just yards away. Ian did all he could to cling onto his hysterical children who were frantically trying to enter the water after their mum.
READ MORE: Woman swallowed whole by 13ft shark while swimming with friends – and nobody noticed
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Two other diving buddies who’d been with the family quickly swam back to the boat as soon as they saw the carnage and then tried in vain to reach Therese’s limp body.
(Image: YouTube)
Ian later travelled out in a dinghy and spent hours scouring the waters with only pieces of her wetsuit and one leg being recovered.
The group had been scuba diving alongside a large breeding colony of Austrailian sea lions at the time sparking warnings about respecing the marine environment as a habitat of predatory animals, including great white sharks which often target young sea lion pups.
The incident was one of the most horrifying and violent shark attacks in Australian history and remains one of the very few where a great white killed and ate a human.
Eight years earlier, Shirley Ann Durdin suffered the same harrrowing fate when she was attacked off the coast of Peake Bay, South Australia in 1985.
(Image: Supplied)
Just five days after Therese’s death, newlywed John Ford, 31 was killed by a 16ft shark while scuba diving with his bride, Deborah on their honeymoon off the resort town of Byron Bay, 400 miles north of Sydney.
In the wake of the tragedy, Deborah told reporters: “He was a hero. He was a good husband and I loved him dearly.
“He pushed me out of the way. It took his life instead of me.”
The horror story resurfaced in a video posted on YouTube by Final Affliction which has been viewed over 60,000 times attracting hundreds of comments.
(Image: YouTube)
One said: “And yet people keep doing the same mistake over and over, it’s like walking next to lions and expect them to do nothing. Rip to all people who had to go through this.”
Another wrote: “That’s absolutely horrifying. My heart goes out to her family.”
One added: “No one deserves this fate, but have to admitt this is an unusual case where a person chooses to swim with an apex predator’s favorite prey. What was she thinking?”
While one remarked: “I will never understand the pursuit of danger and sometimes death that some humans seem to be attracted to. Jumping out of planes, jumping out of boats, climbing huge mountains, cave diving, even driving too fast. Sticking their heads in a lion’s mouth or crocodile ‘s mouth. There are so many more ways it seems people are tempting death. Humans are CRAZY.”
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