Rockaway Beach Shark Bite: Victim’s Recovery Journey Coincides with Start of NYC Beach Season

DEBARYLIFE – A woman who was attacked by a shark last summer at Rockaway Beach celebrated her 66th birthday recently and is still recovering after the shark bit a piece out of her thigh. This was the first incident at the beach in 70 years.

With the opening of beach season on Saturday, Tatyana Koltunuk of Astoria still has a long way to go.

In an “update,” her daughter Dasha (Darya) Koltunyuk honored her mother’s birthday on April 4 and the tenacious nature of the human spirit.

“We are ecstatic to celebrate this day with you, Dasha wrote. This year’s birthday feels especially magical as it honors a rekindled sense of life force, awe for the natural world, and the unwavering goodness and strength of the woman I am privileged to call my mother.”

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“I am reminded more today than ever of the wonder with which she speaks about surviving last summer and her reverence for the natural world, and I join her in that feeling.”

Dasha shared a picture of a sidewalk flower bed that her mother had sent her, saying it “looked like a chocolate cake with frosting.” She said the flower bed was full of surprises, and Dasha was always ready to enjoy them.

The daughter said that  has raised $103,000 of the $125,000 target and has given “aqua therapy visits, orthotics, transportation, and more.” “Our family is very appreciative.”

Koltunyuk, a former marine engineer originating from Ukraine, was attacked by a predator on August 7 at around 6 p.m. while she was swimming alone along Beach 59th Street. The predator may have been a bull, thresher, or great white shark.

At that moment, the devoted daughter declared, “The fact that she’s alive is a miracle.”