Lyn Jutronich has been swimming her entire life. Here in San Diego, she’s part of a group of ocean swimmers. It's safe to say, most days, you can find her in the water.
“During the week, I have a swim partner that I meet up with a couple of times a week,” said Jutronich. “And he and I swim together the same route that we usually do with the group because it's familiar and we know the distance and we know there are lifeguards and people out. So we had met up [on that day].”
But on Friday, her routine swim turned into a bloody nightmare.
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“We usually relax for a couple of minutes, tread water, talk about maybe what we're gonna get for breakfast and then we head in,” said Jutronich. “So we were in that process, and then all of a sudden I just felt a huge bump.”
Before she knew it -- came a bite.
“I looked down and I saw the shark bite my thigh,” said Jutronich. “Fortunately, it released. It shook maybe one time, that's where I have the tears from, and then released.”
Shark Tales in San Diego
Shocked and terrified, she called on her partner for help.
“I said, 'David, I've been bit, I've been bit,'” said Jutronich. “'We have to get to shore, you have to get me into shore.'”
The pair was able to swim back to shore where lifeguards and emergency crews rushed Jutronich to the hospital.
“I have some obviously pretty bad wounds, but no major arteries were hit as far as we can tell,” said Jutronich. “There's no nerve damage. I just have a big shark bite on my right thigh.”
Jutronich has been treated for puncture and laceration wounds to her upper right thigh.
“I am doing great for everything considered,” said Jutronich. “I am incredibly lucky and unlucky all at the same time.”
The beach where the attack happened remained closed for two days while lifeguards monitored the area.
Del Mar is known to have a significant juvenile great white shark population. However, it is still unclear if that was the type of shark involved in the attack.
When asked if she’ll get back in the water after what happened, she said she’s taking it one step at a time.
“I'm not going to be getting in any water anytime soon, because I have some pretty nasty wounds that need to heal, and then I'll go from there,” said Jutronich.
Jutronich was swimming at least 200 yards offshore when the incident happened.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark File, there were 73 unprovoked incidents recorded around the world last year, three of them in California.
