Woman, 20, who lost her right arm in Hawaiian shark attack is on life support after being rescued by fearless high school gym teacher
- Shark attack victim Jana Lutteropp, 20, is on life support
- Her right arm was torn off
- The German tourist had spent a year working as an au pair in Seattle, Washington
- She traveled to Maui, Hawaii, for a three-week vacation before her scheduled return home in September
- Rick Moore, 57, a teacher from California, jumped into the water after hearing Jana's blood-curdling screams
- 'We look out and there was blood everywhere in the white water around her,' Moore said
- Moore's friend, Nicholas Grisaffi, helped carry Lutteropp out of the water
By SNEJANA FARBEROV, ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN and DAILY MAIL REPORTER PUBLISHED: 05:25 GMT, 20 August 2013 | UPDATED: 07:51 GMT, 20 August 2013
A 20-year-old German tourist whose right arm was torn off by a shark in Hawaii is on life support. Jana Lutteropp is in a 'very critical condition' in Maui Memorial Medical Center after the Wednesday shark attack at Palauea Beach in Makena, hospital spokeswoman Carol Clark said. California high school teacher Rick Moore, who jumped into the water to save Lutteropp, said the young tourist kept repeating that she was going to die. ‘As soon as we stand on the beach, we heard this blood-curdling scream,’ the 57-year-old of Laguna Niguel, California, said. ‘We look out and there was blood everywhere in the white water around her.’
Globetrotter: German citizen Jana Lutteropp, 20, is on life support after losing her arm in a shark attack while vacationing in Hawaii
‘About 10 feet from her, I saw her floating on her back, with no arm,’ Moore said. ‘It was completely severed from her body.’Lutteropp is originally from Zierenberg north of Kassel in western Germany. She was a member of the town's carnival troupe called Grace Berger Dance Guard and had left Germany last summer to work as an au pair in Seattle, Washington.
She was in Hawaii for a three-week vacation and was planning to return to Germany September 11, according to her personal blog as well as the HNA.de website that serves the region where her town is located.On herblog, Lutteropp wrote about her experiences working as an au pair for an American family living in Issaquah – a suburb of Seattle.
Hero: Rick Moore (left), a 57-year-old gym teacher from California, jumped in the water after hearing Jana (right) screaming and brought her ashore, where he performed CPR until help arrived
The 20-year-old had spent a year caring for her host family’s three boys – 4-year-old twins and their 5-year-old brother. Her last day on the job was August 12, after which the young au pair apparently headed to Hawaii for a vacation. Lutteropp was snorkeling 50 yards off Palauea Beach in Makena when the shark bit off her arm Wednesday afternoon.With the bikini-clad woman's other arm around his neck, Moore backstroked about 100 yards through strong ocean currents.‘It dawned on me — I was in danger now,’ he said. ‘The shark is around me and she's bleeding. I start praying out loud, “God, God protect us.” She said, “I'm dying. I know I'm going to die."’She was starting to lose consciousness, he said.
Moore's friend, Nicholas Grisaffi, 61, of Laguna Beach, stood in neck-high water and took the woman from Moore and carried her limp body out of the water.‘What was left of her shoulder was in my chest,’ said Grisaffi, who teaches homeless fourth- and fifth-graders. ‘I had a pure-white rash guard on’ but there was very little blood on it, an indication of how much blood she lost.The two teachers said they put the woman in a bystander's kayak, using it as a stretcher to bring her up a trail leading to the street.The woman's three friends were in shock as Moore performed CPR.
Attack: The victim is understood to have lost an arm after being bitten by the shark in Hawaii
‘Pretty much everybody was out of control except me and Rick,’ Grisaffi said. ‘If we're not there, she's not saved. Nobody did a thing. They just stood there in shock, watching the blood and everything.’A police officer arrived with a tourniquet as the woman was going in and out of consciousness, Grisaffi said. An ambulance rushed her to Maui Memorial Medical Center.Joshua Craddock, a 23-year-old from London who was sunbathing on the beach at the time, called 911. He hailed Moore's bravery.‘He was pretty heroic and selfless to dive in the water when by this stage she was surrounded by a pool of blood which we could see form the shore,’ Craddock said.
Moore and Grisaffi have visited the woman in the hospital and said she was in stable condition Friday. Authorities have declined to release her name.‘I just can't get the screaming out of my head,’ Grisaffi said. ‘The arm didn't bother me. At our age, we've seen a lot.’The ordeal has changed his perspective on the ocean. ‘I won't take risks of going too far out any more,’ he said.Hawaii officials say shark attacks are unusual considering how many people are in the state's waters.
Stunning: The young German tourist was snorkelling just 50 yards from Makena beach, Hawaii, when she was attacked
There have been six shark attacks this year through the end of July, including three on Maui, according to a state database. There were 11 shark attacks in the state in 2012.The last time anyone in Hawaii died from a shark attack was in 2004.To reduce the risk of being injured by a shark attack, state officials urge people to swim in groups and avoid going in the ocean at dawn and dusk, when sharks may come closer to shore to feed. But Craddock said he doubts many people are aware of these warnings.‘She was a young, fair-haired blond girl on vacation and she clearly had no idea,’ he said.
Globetrotter: German citizen Jana Lutteropp, 20, is on life support after losing her arm in a shark attack while vacationing in Hawaii
‘About 10 feet from her, I saw her floating on her back, with no arm,’ Moore said. ‘It was completely severed from her body.’Lutteropp is originally from Zierenberg north of Kassel in western Germany. She was a member of the town's carnival troupe called Grace Berger Dance Guard and had left Germany last summer to work as an au pair in Seattle, Washington.
She was in Hawaii for a three-week vacation and was planning to return to Germany September 11, according to her personal blog as well as the HNA.de website that serves the region where her town is located.On herblog, Lutteropp wrote about her experiences working as an au pair for an American family living in Issaquah – a suburb of Seattle.
Hero: Rick Moore (left), a 57-year-old gym teacher from California, jumped in the water after hearing Jana (right) screaming and brought her ashore, where he performed CPR until help arrived
The 20-year-old had spent a year caring for her host family’s three boys – 4-year-old twins and their 5-year-old brother. Her last day on the job was August 12, after which the young au pair apparently headed to Hawaii for a vacation. Lutteropp was snorkeling 50 yards off Palauea Beach in Makena when the shark bit off her arm Wednesday afternoon.With the bikini-clad woman's other arm around his neck, Moore backstroked about 100 yards through strong ocean currents.‘It dawned on me — I was in danger now,’ he said. ‘The shark is around me and she's bleeding. I start praying out loud, “God, God protect us.” She said, “I'm dying. I know I'm going to die."’She was starting to lose consciousness, he said.
Moore's friend, Nicholas Grisaffi, 61, of Laguna Beach, stood in neck-high water and took the woman from Moore and carried her limp body out of the water.‘What was left of her shoulder was in my chest,’ said Grisaffi, who teaches homeless fourth- and fifth-graders. ‘I had a pure-white rash guard on’ but there was very little blood on it, an indication of how much blood she lost.The two teachers said they put the woman in a bystander's kayak, using it as a stretcher to bring her up a trail leading to the street.The woman's three friends were in shock as Moore performed CPR.
Attack: The victim is understood to have lost an arm after being bitten by the shark in Hawaii
‘Pretty much everybody was out of control except me and Rick,’ Grisaffi said. ‘If we're not there, she's not saved. Nobody did a thing. They just stood there in shock, watching the blood and everything.’A police officer arrived with a tourniquet as the woman was going in and out of consciousness, Grisaffi said. An ambulance rushed her to Maui Memorial Medical Center.Joshua Craddock, a 23-year-old from London who was sunbathing on the beach at the time, called 911. He hailed Moore's bravery.‘He was pretty heroic and selfless to dive in the water when by this stage she was surrounded by a pool of blood which we could see form the shore,’ Craddock said.
Moore and Grisaffi have visited the woman in the hospital and said she was in stable condition Friday. Authorities have declined to release her name.‘I just can't get the screaming out of my head,’ Grisaffi said. ‘The arm didn't bother me. At our age, we've seen a lot.’The ordeal has changed his perspective on the ocean. ‘I won't take risks of going too far out any more,’ he said.Hawaii officials say shark attacks are unusual considering how many people are in the state's waters.
Stunning: The young German tourist was snorkelling just 50 yards from Makena beach, Hawaii, when she was attacked
There have been six shark attacks this year through the end of July, including three on Maui, according to a state database. There were 11 shark attacks in the state in 2012.The last time anyone in Hawaii died from a shark attack was in 2004.To reduce the risk of being injured by a shark attack, state officials urge people to swim in groups and avoid going in the ocean at dawn and dusk, when sharks may come closer to shore to feed. But Craddock said he doubts many people are aware of these warnings.‘She was a young, fair-haired blond girl on vacation and she clearly had no idea,’ he said.
