Shark bite victim recalls terrifying encounter: ‘I definitely saw the mouth’

DEL MAR BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - A California woman who survived a shark attack is talking about her terrifying experience in hopes others can learn from her story.

Just hours after her swim off the Del Mar shore ended in a shark bite, Lyn Jutronich was ready to share her experience from her hospital bed.

“Surprisingly, I’m feeling pretty good. I don’t know if I just haven’t processed everything yet,” she said.

Jutronich swam competitively in college and swims in the ocean two or three times a week. She and her swim partner were resting in the water Friday morning before heading back to shore when something slammed into her.

“I felt a huge, like a really hard hit … like right between my legs. … It hurt and it pushed me up and out of the water,” she said.

Jutronich says she immediately knew, without a doubt, that she was up against a shark.

“I saw it clamp on my leg, so I don’t know if I saw it bite my leg or if I saw it after it bit my leg, but I definitely saw the mouth,” she said. “It was on my right leg, and it shook once, kind of like a dog, and then, it let me go.”

She then came out of the water to tell her swim partner what happened.

“I’ve just been bit. We’ve got to get in to shore,” she said.

But her partner already knew because he saw that something had gotten ahold of Jutronich.

“He said he saw the water agitate, he saw me kind of twist around and then, he saw the fin in the back of the shark,” Jutronich said.

The pair swam back to the shore, where lifeguards and emergency crews rushed Jutronich to the hospital. She received stitches for puncture and laceration wounds to her upper right thigh, according to the Associated Press.

Del Mar Beach was closed, and signs were posted to alert swimmers and surfers to the shark attack.

Even as she recovers, Jutronich admits she’s still a bit in shock, and she’s using a little humor to help her heal.

“My friend did send me an article that said I should buy a Powerball ticket because apparently, the chances of winning the Powerball right now are less than being attacked by a shark, so I’ve got that going for me,” she said.

Jutronich has not decided yet if she’ll ever swim in the ocean again. Right now, she’s focused on her recovery.