Policemen Dramatically Rescue a Shark-bitten Woman Diver

Had it not been for the grace of God, a woman diver Lee (39), who was rescued after being bitten by a shark off the coast of Taean-gun, Chungnam Province on June 13, could have died.

Lee, who came to the solitary island Dando to pick abalone with 11 other divers, was attacked by Shark while working on the seashore opposite to the ship along with another diver Park (49).

The two people narrowly escaped from a shark by fleeing onto a rock, but they couldn’t call for help as there was no aid equipment or communication tool.

No matter how hard they shouted, the sound didn’t reach the other divers, but they couldn’t jump into the sea where a shark was waiting, though they had to swim in order to return to the ship.

While they were hesitating, Lee, who was bitten on her leg by a shark, bled excessively and was losing consciousness. If there were more delays, she could have been in danger of losing her life.

At that moment, a fishing ship came in sight. The fishing ship was carrying 15 police officers from the Gwanak district division under the Gwanak police station who came on a fishing trip and for a coalition meeting after finishing night duty.

“Initially, I thought that the woman diver’s waive was a greeting for us. But…”

Police officers, including the leader of the district division Kim Tae-wan (chief inspector), first intended to just pass by the woman diver who was waiving her hand toward the ship, but closely approached her after feeling something strange. Then, a cry of “my co-worker was bitten by a shark” came out.

However, it wasn’t easy to moor a ship onto an island. It was a rocky island with deep water, rough waves, and the fog was heavy on that day.

As the captain seemed to be a bit reluctant, thinking to save a person was urgent, leader Kim shouted to the captain, “I’ll pay for the cost of the ship, so bring it to the island.”

Among the members, police corporal Park Sang-jin (37) and policeman Kang Jeong-seok (29) first jumped onto the rock.

Lee had already become nearly unconscious at the time. The two men barely moved her to the ship while one person was lending his arm to help and the other was playing a “human link” that connected the ship and the rocky island.

Kim asked for rescue help using his wireless phone to the Coast Guard. It was 3:38 p.m. and Lee sustained a serious wound to the degree where her left thigh and knee bone was visible.

The members first thought to wait for the Coast Guard, but it appeared that it would take more than one hour for the Coast Guard to come to the island and return.

After all, the members decided to bring Lee by themselves and contacted a 119 medical service team to stand by at the Anheung port.

Running at full speed, the fishing ship arrived at the Anheung port around 4:00 p.m., and Lee was promptly moved and treated at the nearby hospital.

Kim laughed, saying, “I feel ashamed that we didn’t have a proper unity meeting, but it was more fruitful than any other event as we saved a life.”

Jae-Young Kim jaykim@donga.com