This Instagram Model Got Bitten By A Shark During An Impromptu Photoshoot
Instagram model and influencer Katarina Zarutskie recently went a step too far when trying to get those grid pics on holiday, very much proving that there’s nothing people won’t do for a like.
The 19-year-old college student was with her boyfriend and his family in the Bahamas at the time, when she realised she could get some great #content to show her then 13,000 followers.
But it was one spot in particular that caught her eye for a quick photoshoot, as she saw an area where nurse sharks were swimming with people jumping in with them to take pics.
"From my previous knowledge from surfing and scuba diving, I know nurse sharks are usually very safe," she told the BBC. "I've seen countless photos of people with them on Instagram."
However when she was encouraged to lie back by a local resident, Katarina was bitten by a shark with it pulling her under water for several seconds.
The whole thing was caught in a series of images taken by her boyfriend’s dad, as she’s seen holding her arm above her head to make sure the blood didn'tcause a frenzy.
"At that point your body has so much adrenaline going and you just have to get out of the situation, but I stayed extremely calm," she says.
"I think if someone was screaming and flailing around it definitely could have changed the situation."
Thankfully she was okay and just had to get stitches and antibiotics for her injuries, though she does still have some fragments of teeth left in the wounds.
She’s since had to make her Instagram private, after people accused her of blaming the sharks and causing the situation herself, but she insists that’s not the case.
"I'm not afraid of the ocean and if anything I respect and love it more," she says.
"He didn't mean it: he's a wild animal, and I think anyone that goes and swims with nurse sharks needs to realise it is an uncontrollable situation.”
Moral of the story? Erm, just don’t swim with sharks, we guess.