A Brazilian teenager has had her leg bitten off by a shark just a day after a schoolboy was attacked at a nearby beach.
Marcela Vitoria de Lima Santos, 19, was swimming in Boa Viagem, in north-east Brazil, on Monday, when she was bitten.
Footage shows Marcela being dragged out of the ocean by a lifeguard and beachgoers after the attack.
The teenager is seen lying on the sand after being taken out of the water with her leg missing.
An off-duty doctor rushed to help and managed to perform emergency first aid on Marcela while they waited for paramedics to arrive.
The teen was rushed to a hospital in the nearby town of Recife, where she was treated for her severe injuries.
Hospital director Petrus de Andrade Lima said overnight after Marcela underwent emergency surgery: ‘She will possibly still need more blood. She was in profound hemorrhagic shock, received blood, will likely need more, and there is a second concern that all these patients who suffer an animal bite face, which is the risk of infection.’
He added that the off-duty doctor saved her life by applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Her cousin, Jonas Andre de Lima, who was a lifeguard on duty at the time of the shark attack, told Brazilian TV: ‘I was the one who rescued her in the sea. I went into the water because she was drifting a little farther away, losing strength.
Brazilian teenager Marcela Vitoria de Lima Santos, 19, lost her leg after she was mauled by a shark
Footage showed the teenaged girl being dragged onto the beach by bystanders after the attack
Pictured: Marcela Vitoria de Lima Santos in an undated photograph
‘I grabbed her by the arm and brought her back, pulling her, swimming toward the shore, and people came and helped me. She was very badly injured; she had already lost her leg.’
The incident happened just a day after 11-year-old Joao Lucas Castor Nemezio Sales lost his left leg after being mauled by a bull shark at a nearby beach.
The schoolboy had been enjoying a beach day at Piedade Beach at the time of the attack.
Footage also appeared to capture the moment Joao was attacked, with the video showing panicked beachgoers dragging the child onto the sand.
Joao and Marcela were treated at the same hospital.
Speaking about the young boy, who is in a serious but stable condition, Andrade Lima said: ‘He lost all the blood in his body.’
His school has been urging people to donate blood, saying in a social media message yesterday alongside a photo of the youngster: ‘Our dear student Joao Lucas, from the 6th grade afternoon class, is hospitalised and needs blood donations.’
Both bite victims lived in Recife suburbs, and the areas where they swam had warning signs on the beaches alerting to the dangers of sharks, although bathing is not banned in either area.
Joao Lucas’ uncle Aldemir Jose recalled the moment he realised the youngster had been attacked in an emotional local newspaper interview yesterday.
He told how he had gone to the beach with three children, including his nephew and his daughter, after finishing work.
Fighting back tears, he said: ‘We were all in the sea before the attack, and I had just left the water and left the kids in the sea.
‘Then I heard a strange noise, and when I turned round, all I could see was blood. I didn’t think twice and raced into the water to get my nephew out.
‘He was conscious and just kept begging me not to let him die.’
A nurse tended to the injured youngster until the first emergency responders arrived.
Initial reports said the shark had bitten the child in the hip and left hand in the incident that occurred just after 1.30pm on Sunday.
An off-duty doctor treated the young woman on the beach before paramedics arrived
His security guard uncle later told local paper Diario de Pernambuco the information he had been given was that his left leg had been amputated.
The shark that attacked Joao Lucas has been identified as a bull shark, and a tiger shark has been linked to the attack on the teenage girl.
Danise Alves, the executive secretary of the State Committee for Monitoring Shark Incidents (CEMIT), said after Sunday’s incident: ‘In Jaboatao, the bathing ban extends from the BarraMares Hotel to the Piedade Church.
‘Where the boy was attacked, the sign informs that the area is subject to attacks and provides information on when swimming should be avoided.’
The new shark attack was the fourth so far this year in the north-east Brazilian state of Pernambuco which Recife and nearby Jaboatao dos Guararapes both form part of.
The first two attacks happened in January.
In the last 34 years, there have been 84 recorded shark attacks in the state, resulting in 27 deaths.
Some travellers to the area have commented on the shark danger on Piedade Beach on sites like Tripadvisor.
One English speaker said recently, ‘A very cool beach, unfortunately inappropriate for bathing because it is quite dangerous due to the attacks of sharks, but worth the walk.’
Another said: ‘That beach is beautiful and we stayed in a hotel facing the sea, but you cannot bathe because of the presence of sharks.
‘There are many beaches 50 or 100 km away, so it was essential for us to rent a car.’
On March 5 2023, a 14-year-old lost one of his legs after being attacked by a shark on Piedade Beach.
The following day, a 15-year-old boy lost his left arm after entering the sea in the same area.
