Family of ‘miracle’ New York shark attack victim are struggling to pay medical bills

The family of a New York woman who suffered horrific injuries in a shark attack at New York’s Rockaway Beach say they are struggling to afford her medical bills.

Tatyana Koltunyuk, 65, became the first person to be attacked by a shark at a New York City beach in nearly 70 years when she was bitten while swimming in shallow waters on 7 August.

Her daughter Dasha Koltunyuk told Good Morning America that a police officer who stopped the bleeding with a makeshift tourniquet had probably saved her mother’s life.

A doctor who operated on Tatyana at Jamaica Hospital told the family it was the largest bite he had ever seen, Dasha added.

“He was just kind of in awe of it, in awe that she survived that,” Dasha Koltunyuk told GMA. “I think the fact that she’s alive is a miracle.”

Tatyana has undergone seven surgeries and still has at least one more, her daughter said last week.

She faces years of costly rehabilitation and physical therapy, her daughter said.

A GoFundme page set up by the family had raised $92,000 by Thursday, which they hope will reach a target of $150,000.

Recalling the 7 August attack, Dasha Koltunyuk told GMA that her recently-retired mother had taken the hour-long subway ride to Rockaway Beach as she did most days.

Tatyana felt something “bump into her, hard”, and saw the shark’s “green and dirty” teeth while staring directly into its eyes as she swam late in the afternoon, her daughter said.

“She described looking at its eyes very vividly and just seeing it. She almost describes it as being mischievous, almost like an adolescent spirit,” Dasha told ABC’s flagship morning news show.

The shark, which Tatyana is convinced was a great white, then attacked, and the water quickly turned red with blood.

In spite of her horrific injuries which have left her with a permanent disability, Dasha said her mother was no stranger to overcoming adversity.

Tatyana immigrated to the United States from Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s when Dasha was just three years old.

Her husband died of a heart attack within a few weeks of their arrival, and Tatyana was unable to find work as a marine engineer due to the language barrier.

On the fundraising page, Dasha wrote that her “beloved, exquisite, and heroic mother” worked tirelessly to ensure she had the best possible education.

“My husband and I will do everything in our power to make her retirement as comfortable and enjoyable as we possibly can, but the road ahead will be extremely challenging for her and for our family,” Dasha wrote.

According to the Global Shark Attack File, it was the first shark attack in New York City since 1958.

There have been 10 fatal shark attacks in the United States in the past decade. Six occurred on Maui, two in California, and one each in Massachusetts and Maine.