A woman from China was bitten by a nurse shark while diving among them in the Maldives on 21 Nov.
She then posted videos of the incident and its aftermath on social media, which quickly drew attention but also, ire.
However, what frustrated netizens was not her decision to dive with sharks.
Instead, they criticised her for taking her injury lightly instead of seeking treatment immediately.
One of the videos the woman posted showed the moment when she was bitten by a shark.
She was diving close to the surface of the water, surrounded by about seven sharks, when one of them bit her lower forearm.
The woman quickly pulled her hand away from the shark and swam up to the surface.
Source: Douyin
However, a subsequent video revealed that the woman did not promptly seek professional treatment for her wound.
When other tourists advised her to get treated, she did not take them seriously and even joked about getting her hand amputated.
Even so, others tried to convince her a few more times, but to no avail.
“I don’t have any more money this month,” said the woman while laughing.
Many netizens who commented on the post were aggravated by the woman’s refusal to take her wound seriously.
They said that while sharks are not venomous, the injury could still get infected and cause her great harm.
Translation: It’s incredibly frustrating when you’re seriously explaining the consequences to someone and they just chuckle nonchalantly.
Source: Douyin
The woman later told reporters that after being bitten, she did not feel much pain.
She also did not see any bleeding in the water, and only noticed a piece of skin hanging from her hand.
Hence, she concluded that her injury was not serious.
“After I pulled my hand out, I went back into the water and didn’t think too much about it,” she said.
“Because I can judge for myself. If the shark had bitten a blood vessel, a major artery, or even a bone, and if my joints couldn’t move, I would definitely have panicked.”
She revealed that a local man on the boat bandaged her wound.
Eventually, the woman was convinced by a friend to get proper medical treatment.
She had the wound cleaned and received a tetanus shot at a local hospital.
Source: Douyin
In an update on 29 Nov, the tourist posted an update that she was about to visit another hospital in China.
She added that the netizens who scolded her were “even more vicious than a shark”, causing her to be upset and lose sleep.
To add fuel to the fire, the woman also revealed that she went diving while menstruating.
However, before going, she sought advice and was told that it would still be safe to dive.
Meanwhile, her friend believes that what had attracted the shark was the silver bracelet she wore.
The woman’s friend speculated that since sharks do not have very good eyesight, they must have thought that the reflection from the woman’s bracelet was a small fish floating in the water.
Meanwhile, a marine expert said that nurse sharks are a relatively docile species that rarely attack people and do not often cause serious bites.
However, the expert added that while the nurse sharks are not venomous, the wound may get still infected with marine viruses or bacteria.
Also read: German tourist bitten by big fish while swimming on Thai beach, suspected to be a shark
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Featured image adapted from Douyin.