How could you not feel the pain?

[Sapporo Ichiban]

I copied a news story below. The gist of it is that a woman surfing was bit by a shark, dragged underwater, and reportedly nearly lost her leg. It also says that she didn't realize she had been cut until another surfer told her.

Now, I can possibly understand if she saw the shark first and fought with the shark before getting bit and, with adrenaline going, didn't realize she was hurt. But if you're paddling along and you're suddenly dragged underwater, I mean, wouldn't you feel the pain?

Now, especially as I get older, I've cut myself before and not realized it until I notice blood but we're talking paper cut or small kitchen knife nick (of course, other times I'll get a paper cut and be screaming for mama . . .). Seriously though, anyone have any idea how she didn't feel anything?


___________

"Surfer Survives Shark Attack

SANTA ROSA, Calif., Oct. 20, 2005

(CBS) A woman was attacked in northern California waters by a 14-foot shark that experts believe was a great white.

After the attack, Megan Halavais didn't realize she had been bitten until an eyewitness unwittingly brought it to her attention.

The trauma surgeon who treated her says she came "very close" to losing her leg since the bite came within a centimeter of a major artery.

David Bryant, a friend who was surfing with Halavais, 20, of Santa Rosa, Calif., told Tracy Smith on The Early Show Thursday that he and Halavais' boyfriend were about 20 feet away from her when they spotted a large fin in the waters off Salmon Creek Beach in Sonoma County.

"John Henry and I just started paddling as fast as we could towards her," Bryant said. "I had a very strong feeling that we were not just gonna have that thing swim by and leave. As we started swimming towards it, it became agitated and it started making moves towards her and started splashing and making very aggressive movements.

"When we were just converging on the scene, her boyfriend and I got within five feet of her before the shark actually pulled her underwater, and there was no sign of her board or her.

"At that point, my heart sank. I thought, 'Oh, my God. I mean, is that the last time we're going to see her?' And right as we got to the zone where she was, she surfaced right next to us. And when she crawled on the back of her boyfriend, I could see the wound pretty clearly."

Halavais had hit the shark on its tail to get it off her.

Bryant said Halavais "actually had no idea that she had been cut by the shark. I made the mistake of alerting her to that while we were in the water trying to get back to shore, when I was instructing her boyfriend to use direct pressure and find the pressure point to make the bleeding stop.

"She exclaimed, 'I'm cut?' And I told her, 'It's OK, it's not so bad. We just need to get you to shore and keep paddling nice and calmly like you're doing, and we'll take care of you."

But Bryant admits he wasn't sure.

"I could see that (the wound) was bad but it wasn't — there was not an artery hit, so it wasn't gushing and pumping blood out," he said. "So I felt like we had a really good chance, if everything went smoothly, to come out successful."

Dr. Dave Hardin, a trauma surgeon who treated Halavais at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, says she actually "came very close to losing her leg. We did a special angiogram using a C.A.T. scanner to look at the blood vessels, and the shark bite went all the way down to the bone and came very close to one of the major arteries, but was only about a centimeter away."

Hardin says he believes Halavais is out of harm's way now and should make a full recovery, adding that she needs another operation.

"With Megan's attitude and her good spirits," he said, "I'm sure she's going to do excellent."

Her spirits were so good during her initial treatment, Hardin said, that doctors were listening to Beach Boys music and joking with her as they worked on her."

[MarkF]

I think fear is probably the number one sensation in that situation. Pain usually comes in second or third. At least it probably would for me. I've cut myself far worse than papercuts and felt no pain. Paper cut, now that is painful.


Mark

[Bushi Jon]

shock will do that to ya

[MikeWilliams]

Adrenaline. It's one heck of a pain killer.

I once got hit by a car on my motorcycle - it was at low speed but the car drove straight into my ankle and snapped it (which I clearly felt). Now lying in the middle of a busy road junction didn't seem very clever, so I got up and walked to the side of the road.

I really didn't feel any pain at that moment - adrenaline was doing exactly what it is meant to do, which is to enable me to get away from a dangerous situation.

Of course, I felt plenty of pain for the next six weeks. But for those few seconds, I was able to walk on a broken ankle, just as that girl was able to punch a shark and crawl onto her boyfriend's surfboard.

[NickR]

I didn't know my hand was dislocated and broken for about 12 hours.
Took 4 hours of surgery and 3 pins to fix, lost use of my hand for 4 months...

I can believe that story.

[twayman]

Adrenaline. It's one heck of a pain killer.

Agree here… Cut my throat once (don’t ask doing stupid stuff), broke knuckle (boxers break) and hit by a car while on bike (a drunk in Arizona)… All three did not feel a thing until later. Throat incident friends told me about the cut, hospital trip confirmed it. Broken knuckle woke up from hangover the next day for another hospital trip (P.S. you can punch threw a wall easy enough it’s the bricks on the other side that will get you). The bike incident did not realize the 1 ½” missing flesh and busted ankle until I started chasing the drunk down and could not so walk well. Just some little stories about my adrenaline highs and the fun I had.

The girl was on the news this morning and she is doing fine but, under going another surgery today.

[t.matsutaka]

I broke up a robbery once and while punching out one of the bad guys he waved his hand in front of me. For what reason I do not know.

After the cops sorted everything out I noticed a small tear in my shirt which I then noticed was in fact a lateral slice through the shirt from the right shoulder to left hip. I took off the shirt and passed out. I had been sliced across the chest with a cutthroat razor all the way down to the bone. My sternum and stomach were easily visible. Needed 78 stitches to close it up.

Never felt a thing till it start itching two weeks later.