More than the incident
What comes next
My relationship with the sea changed profoundly when I survived a bull shark bite in northern Australia. The shark bit my left lower leg, severing an artery and leaving me with injuries that changed the course of my life.
I won't go into the whole story here. There are interviews, articles and films that tell different parts of it. Some are more raw than others, depending on where I was in my life — and sometimes simply what kind of day I was having — when I was interviewed.
But this page isn't really about what happened. It's about what comes next.
For a time, I wore the identity of the “shark girl” when it felt necessary. It helped me tell the story, make sense of what had happened, connect with others and advocate for a different understanding of sharks, trauma and survival. Now, it is a story I may or may not choose to share.
I am more than the sum of my scars.
I am me because of them, and also despite them.
Finding my place again
Visible and invisible scars
The physical scars are the ones people can see.
The deeper journey has been learning to live with the ones they can't.
I have experienced the depths of depression and post-traumatic stress following several difficult chapters in my life, but none transformed my relationship with myself and the natural world quite like surviving that encounter.
It forced me to reconsider my place in the ocean — and in this world. Rather than seeing myself as separate from nature, I began to understand myself simply as another animal entering a complex ecosystem: one with predators and prey, risk and beauty, vulnerability and extraordinary life.
And strangely, after being wounded by the ocean, I found myself drawn back to it.
Getting back in the water
Strength without becoming harder
For me, returning to the sea has been my version of getting back on the horse after a fall. It hasn't been a straight line.
I still have dark days. I still lose confidence. I still experience imposter syndrome, particularly while navigating leadership roles within traditionally male-dominated maritime industries. I don't pretend to have conquered all of those things. Instead, I am learning to make space for them.
Some of the people who have influenced me most have been those willing to share their own vulnerability — particularly women who showed me that strength does not have to mean becoming harder.
They taught me that leadership can also look like patience, presence, empathy, compassion and empowerment. These qualities exist within the maritime world, but I believe there is still room for much more of them. I want to be part of that change.
The people I find along the way
The wild and the wonderful
Perhaps because I know what it is like to carry wounds that aren't always visible, I find myself drawn to others with scars — and to the extraordinary people who can see someone as whole when that person cannot yet see it themselves.
The healers and adventurers. The creatives, mages and witches. The mermaids and weirdos. The artists, musicians, storytellers and photographers. The brave, the vulnerable, the wild and the wonderful.
In a world increasingly designed to filter away the stains, marks, wrinkles, imperfections and scars of being human, I think we need those people more than ever. We need reminders of what real humans look like. I want the spaces I create to offer something different.
The spaces I want to create
Adventure with genuine human connection
My dream is to create experiences where people can arrive exactly as they are — scars and all. I want to have the capacity to be present with people in some of the ways I wish I had been held and supported when I needed it most.
Through my work on and around the ocean, I hope to create spaces where adventure and professionalism can exist alongside kindness, patience and genuine human connection.
This is particularly important through my work with BITE CLUB, an international community of people affected by shark and other animal bite incidents — including survivors, responders, families and others whose lives have been changed by these experiences.
I dream of opportunities for this community to come together not simply around what happened to us, but around what can happen next: friendship, adventure, laughter, confidence, connection and a renewed relationship with nature.
Vulnerability, safety & healing
Vulnerability + danger can create trauma.
Vulnerability + safety can create healing.
When we are struggling, we can feel profoundly alone in our suffering. Meeting others who quietly carried similar feelings changed something in me.
There is enormous power in hearing someone say, “me too.”
There is power in being witnessed without being fixed.
There is power in discovering that the parts of ourselves we thought made us unacceptable can actually become places of connection.
Where I am going
Turning experience into something useful
I don't believe our wounds need to define us. But I do believe we can find meaning in them.
My work now is about bringing together the different pieces of my life — maritime experience, freediving, wildlife encounters, nature, survival, mental health advocacy, leadership, creativity and community — and turning those experiences into something useful for others.
I want to create ocean and nature-based experiences for people who may not always feel there is a place for them in traditional adventure spaces: safe spaces for BITE CLUB; spaces where women can explore the ocean, build skills and step into leadership without leaving their softer qualities behind; and experiences for anyone carrying the scars of life, whether those scars are physical, psychological or completely invisible.
You are welcome here.
We see you.
You don't have to hide your scars.
You can come exactly as you are.
I am a shark bite survivor. But before the shark, I had already survived many other bites from life.
Today, I am still learning, changing and becoming. My goal isn't to become fearless or perfectly healed. It is to keep stepping forward with humility, to wear my scars without shame, and to use what I have lived through to create something meaningful.
To return to nature after nature has wounded you can be complicated. But for me, returning to the sea has also been an extraordinary reminder: we can be scarred and still belong in this world as whole beings.