Fatal Bahamas shark encounter kills new bride whilst paddleboarding

A US woman in her 40s has been confirmed as succumbing to her injuries after a shark encounter whilst paddleboarding.

Lauren Erickson Van Wart,44, who had only got married the day before, was paddleboarding close to the beach with her new husband, Ernest, on holiday from Boston.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a comment that a lifeguard at the beach resort spotted the attack, but it was already too late when the pair were reached by boat.

Police said. “The victim suffered significant trauma to the right side of her body. She was examined on scene by emergency medical technicians, who concluded that she showed no vital signs of life."

It's the second fatal encounter reported in a week, with a 26-year-old mum dying after losing a leg in the water, with some news outlets also attributing this to a bull shark, with others saying the species in unidentified.

Such shark attacks are rare, but when they happen they are so shocking that they grab headlines and provoke debate. Much of that coverage also now has a focus on how few fatal shark encounters there are and when they do unfortunately happen, it is due to mistaken identity and not a blood thirsty shark like in JAWS (1975).

Perhaps then the tide is turning a little on how the media and we as readers consume such stories, that are no longer about shark-infested waters or a shark stalking victims, but a tragic opportunist attack when we are in their domain. 

  Words by Dean Newman

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