Before we get into the story, let’s address the most important part of this story: She is alive, and she is ok.
That being said, let’s get into it.
According to her Instagram, Katarina Zarutskie is a 19 year old model who lives in Miami. She recently travelled to the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas with her family and her boyfriend.
While she was there, she spotted some people snorkeling and interacting with Nurse Sharks in an area called Staniel Cay. Just like her, people such as Jimmy John Shark have also interacted with a shark recently.
It seems that her boyfriend and her family were the sensible ones in this story and they warned her repeatedly but she opted to ignore them.
As she was floating in the sea above the sharks, disaster struck!
One of the sharks bit her arm and dragged her underwater!
The shark held her underwater for several seconds before she was able to free herself from its grasp.
The photos below show her standing with her arm covered and raised above water, which was a very smart move. Sharks are known to go into a frenzy when there’s blood in the water around them.
Source: BBC
“At that point your body has so much adrenaline going and you just have to get out of the situation, but I stayed extremely calm,” said Zarutskie.
After the incident, she had to get stitches and antibiotics for her injuries. There were also some fragments of teeth left in the wound.
And though the bite will leave a scar, the model expressed relief and said she was lucky to be alive.
After her experience, she has gotten a slew of new followers and fans, but also a deluge of online hate.
She is being called a ‘stupid Instagram model’ and criticized for putting her life at risk for the photo.
However, Zarutskie stood firm and did not let the comments deter her from doing her thing. She said that despite a lot of people spinning the story to make her look bad, she takes it with a grain of salt and doesn’t pay it mind.
Despite her experience, she insists on people not using it as an excuse to avoid the area, describing it as one of the most beautiful she has ever visited.
She also expressed a lack of fear and hostility towards the shark itself, saying that it was a wild animal acting on instinct and that it ‘didn’t mean it’.
“I’m not afraid of the ocean and if anything I respect and love it more,” she said.
We at Sevenpie are glad she is alive and well.
We would also like to take this opportunity urge our readers to exercise caution when going for that perfect Instagram post.
Likes are worth a lot but lives are worth a lot more.
Header Image Source: The Cut
