Shark grabs boater's finger, pulls her into water

July 2 (UPI) -- A woman feeding sharks from a friend's yacht off the Australian coast was pulled into the water when one of the predators grabbed her by the finger.

Melissa Brunning, 34, of Perth, was being filmed by a friend while she hand-fed the tawny nurse sharks at the back of the boat off Western Australia's Kimberly region when one of the predators latched onto her finger and pulled her into the water.

"I think the shark was in shock as much as I was ... the only way I can describe it is this immense pressure and it felt like it was shredding it off the bone," Brunning told The West Australian. "I came up and I was like, 'I've lost my finger, my finger's gone.'"

Brunning said she was relieved to discover her finger was still attached to her hand, although she suffered a fracture and torn ligament. She later underwent surgery for an infection she sustained in the finger as a result of her injury.

The tourist said she does not blame the shark for getting her finger while she tried to feed it fish.

"It's not the shark's fault at all, but it could have been a lot worse," she said. "This is not a shark attack, this is just a blonde doing a stupid thing."