A 44-year-old Boston woman was killed in a shark attack while paddleboarding off the Bahamas, authorities there announced Monday.
The victim, who was not identified, was vacationing with a male relative at a resort in western New Providence when she was bitten as they plied the waters behind the resort, police said.
“The resort lifeguard on duty responded to the incident unfolding, went into a rescue boat, retrieved the victim and the male relative from the water and brought them to safety while administering CPR to the victim,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement. “The victim suffered significant trauma to the right side of her body. She was examined on scene by emergency medical technicians, who concluded that she showed no vital signs of life.”
“I watched them push out from the beach,” a local jet ski operator who witnessed the attack told The Nassau Guardian, noting that the duo was paddleboarding “side by side and laughing and talking.”
He then noticed the woman had vanished but didn’t realize what was happening at first.
“When I saw it was only the guy standing on the board, I said she must have fallen off,” he told the Nassau Guardian. “Then you could actually hear the faint shouts of him screaming for help.”
Local media reported that the woman got married on Sunday, but police did not confirm that.
The attack occurred about three quarters of a mile offshore, near the Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort in Cable Beach in New Providence. The resort responded to the news with condolences.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of a guest while on a paddleboarding activity nearly a mile from the shore. We wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the guest’s family and loved ones,” Sandals said in a statement obtained by WBTS-TV, the NBC affiliate in Boston.
With News Wire Services