WA: Teenager recovering after sea lion attack

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2007
WA: Teenager recovering after sea lion attack

PERTH, April 15 AAP - A 13-year-old girl is recovering in a Perth Hospital after being
mauled in an almost unheard of attack by a sea lion on a West Australian beach.

Ella Murphy was savaged by the sea lion on Friday as she was being towed on a surfboard
behind a speedboat at Lancelin, north of Perth.

Boat driver and family friend Chris Thomas said the animal attacked the teenager twice
before he was able to drag Ella to safety.

"The sea lion has come straight up at her on a collision course on the wave and leapt
out of the water and grabbed her on the head in its mouth," he told the Seven Network.

Ella underwent emergency surgery yesterday after the sea lion left her with significant
injuries to her jaw.

"She's got a huge hole underneath her chin here, she's lost three teeth and quite
a severe amount of bone," mother Michelle Forbes said.

However, her injuries could have been far more serious, the sea lion's bite reportedly
missed a vital artery by just one millimetre.

Her father, Martin Guggenheimer, said Ella was lucky to have survived the attack.

"You nearly get eaten by a wild animal like that ... and they think she could have
been, you know she's very lucky to be alive," he said.

Ella's Doctors have also expressed amazement that her jaw wasn't broken in the attack
while her braces have been credited with saving many of her teeth.

AAP ews/lh/jt/cdh

KEYWORD: SEALION NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

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