A 13-year-old girl was left with 52 stitches after being attacked by a shark at an Ōamaru beach on Sunday.
Alvira Repia-King was swimming near Holmes Wharf at Friendly Bay when the six-foot long shark bit her upper right arm.
She was then rushed to Ōamaru Hospital to have her wounds stitched.
“I got 42 (stitches) in my right arm and 10 on my back,” says Repia-King.
She says the shark swam underneath her and then behind her, and then it latched onto her arm.
Her friend, Lacey Vandelden, was watching from the shore with horror and came to the rescue.
Vandelden says she tried to get someone else to find a rock to hit the shark with, while she helped out her friend.
“She started swimming like a little bit and I put my foot out, she grabbed my foot, I pulled her in.”
The shark is believed to be a broadnose sevengill, common in New Zealand’s waters.
It’s also known as a sea cow, because it's usually quite docile.
The Waitaki District Council is looking at putting signs up to warn people about their presence.
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