Lauren O’Neill: Major health update after swimmer nearly had her leg torn off by a vicious bull shark in Sydney Harbour’s Elizabeth Bay – as her mum breaks family’s silence
A young woman mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor is recovering in hospital after a marathon operation to save her right leg.
Lauren O’Neill, 29, lost liters of blood after the shark ripped open her leg below the knee and bit the bone on Monday, but her limb was saved by surgeons from St Vincent’s who operated on her through the night.
The good news came as Mrs O’Neill’s mother Petra thanked vet Fiona Crago, whose quick action and medical knowledge saved her daughter’s life.
“It means a lot that the community was there at the critical moment to provide assistance, especially the veterinary…
“(It) shows what a wonderful community you are,” Ms O’Neill wrote online.
There’s a major update on the health of Lauren O’Neill (pictured), who was mauled by a bull shark in a shocking attack in Sydney Harbor
Emergency services rushed to a private boatyard in Elizabeth Bay at 7.45pm on Monday and found Ms O’Neill with a serious bite to her right leg and suffering from ‘major blood loss’.
But before that, Dr. Crago and her wife Georgia, who live in a nearby apartment, ran to help after hearing repeated screams of “shark attack!” heard.
Dr. Crago, a former lawyer and TV producer who retrained as a veterinarian about a decade ago, had grabbed two compression bandages that her wife had only just bought that day for another purpose.
The couple discovered a terrifying scene as their neighbour, Mrs O’Neill, lay covered in blood on the private jetty.
“She suffered serious injuries to her right leg and lost a lot of blood,” Dr Crago told Channel 10.
‘Neighbors had already started giving her first aid. We had quite a few people who were so helpful.
“People were throwing down towels and blankets to keep her warm, but I just focused on what I had to do, which was stop the blood flow and bandage the leg as best I could with what I had and just stabilize it. And then put on a tourniquet.’
Dr. Crago, whose actions saved Ms O’Neill’s life, said she normally carried bandages with her because of her work but did not have the usual amount on hand in recent days because she had swapped cars.
“But by some strange coincidence, my wife had gone out yesterday and bought two new compression bandages for a different purpose, so I knew exactly where they were and just grabbed them, so it was lucky,” she said.
Her wife Georgia, interviewed on Monday evening in the aftermath of the attack, said that if Mrs O’Neill had been ‘bitten there (further) she would not have survived’.
Ms O’Neill was attacked near a jetty in Elizabeth Bay in Sydney Harbor (map shown)
A friend of the couple said Mrs O’Neill owed her life to them.
“Fiona knew what she was doing… if it wasn’t for her and her wife Georgia, the poor victim would have died,” the friend told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I’m so proud of them, they deserve an award. That girl was lucky they were home tonight.”
But Ms. Crago refused to accept any praise. “I’m not heroic in any way, I was just doing my job and doing what I was trained to do,” she said.
Elizabeth Bay resident Michael Porter, who called triple zero, also praised Dr. Crago.
“She was an absolute hero… and I think she saved her life,” he told the Today Show.
“She had bandages and tourniquets and immediately went into emergency mode, and we were all there as a team.”
Lauren O’Neill, 29, lost liters of blood after the shark tore her leg open below the knee and bit her to the bone. Mrs O’Neill is pictured on a stretcher
The photo shows emergency workers carrying the woman on a stretcher
A young woman (pictured on the stretcher) is mauled by a shark in Sydney Harbour
The photo shows emergency workers and an ambulance
Emergency services rushed to Elizabeth Bay at 7.45pm on Monday to find Ms O’Neill with a serious bite to her leg and ‘major blood loss’. A blood-stained boardwalk is depicted at the scene
Mr Porter said Ms O’Neill was swimming outside a ‘net harbor pool’ and ‘swam around the boats’.
“Her leg was dragging behind her a little bit, and the water behind her was all red with blood.”
He added that despite being in a “complete state of shock” from the trauma of the attack, Ms O’Neill was “very lucid”.
“People held her hand and helped her, and she was extremely brave the whole time,” he said.
Ms O’Neill studied science at the University of Sydney and works for the NSW Government in the Department of Climate Change.
She has been volunteering for various charities and organizations since 2012, when she was 15.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms O’Neill has dedicated her time to the SES, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Pink Ribbon Day, Daffodil Day and Spinal Cord Injury Australia.
She has served meals to the homeless, helped create a map of wheelchair-accessible public restrooms, and walked foster dogs.
Shark attack victim Lauren O’Neill (pictured) works for the NSW Department of Climate Change
Elizabeth Bay resident and witness Michael Porter said there was blood everywhere
Dr. Fiona Crago (right), her wife Georgia (left) and their neighbors provided first aid to Mrs O’Neill until emergency services arrived
Sydney City Councilor Linda Scott said she was “extremely concerned” when she heard about the attack.
“Please stay out of the port until further notice,” she said on social media.
‘Thank you to the bystanders who bravely helped, and to St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney for their care of the victim.’
In February 2022, British Simon Nellist was killed by a 4.5-metre great white shark at Little Bay in Sydney’s south-east.
He was Sydney’s first confirmed fatality in 60 years.