Surfer’s Injury: Shark Attack?

Sophia Raab tells a story of getting an injury while surfing off of Sunset Beach. According to KCAL, she originally thought it was a fin injury but then her doctor told her it was likely a shark bite.

Watch Raab tell her story. It’s fascinating! I believe by watching her we can see what she truly believes.

What do you see when you watch her?

14 replies
  1. Mimsie
    Mimsie says:

    I couldn’t stand looking at the wound and stitches–I got queasy. But I am interested in your take on the story.

  2. Paul Flanagan
    Paul Flanagan says:

    Searching for the video (I originally couldn’t get it to load), I came across this video first. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3501050/female-surfer-savaged-by-shark-california/

    I also think her doctor is an amateur “shark” guy.

    This is very different from this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB2jbW9Q3Yo

    It was in the news last year and was recorded during a surf competition. The interview is immediately after the attack. He says, “I’m happy to not even compete ever again.” It took him a few months (I’m not sure exactly) to go back in the water. He’s calmer in other later interviews I’ve seen, but he still treats the attack as the gravely serious incident it was.

  3. Eyes for Lies
    Eyes for Lies says:

    The things that flag me in this story are her lack of fear to go back in the water, her emotions and many of the words she says, plus the injury itself. Here is a man who had the same injury as her and he says it was a fin injury. They look identical and both describe them exactly the same. Sophia originally thought it was a “fin” injury. http://www.theinertia.com/surf/use-pro-teck-fins-and-save-yourself-a-trip-to-the-hospital/

    Raab doesn’t show true sadness when crying. Her emotions come and go quickly (even though there are edits in the video). She was shook up from her injury yes, but never saw a shark (neither did anyone else) but she used what a “doctor” said to help her raise money on gofundme. If it was a surfboard fin injury people wouldn’t have had as much empathy. She then reduced her gofundme target from $15K to $10K because people didn’t believe her.

    She says, “I am not going to give up and kind of fall into a pit of despair” when talking about staying out of the water. If you believed a shark attacked you, wouldn’t you have a bit more fear?

    She also says, “It almost seems as though the shark bit my leg when I fell out of fear
    and got the end of my fin as well, because there’s tooth marks on my
    fin.”

    If you listen to her story, she said she was coming in and “jumped off” her surfboard when the injury happened. But if you read her statement above, she says she fell out of fear, and got the end of my fin as well.” I think that statement clarifies it all.

    • Mrs Odie
      Mrs Odie says:

      I agree with you about the inconsistencies, but people who love to surf can be obsessive about it. Remember the girl who got her arm bitten off by a shark? She went right back to surfing as soon as she could.

  4. Rose
    Rose says:

    I did think it was weird to say it was beyond the most terrifying thing to ever happen to her. She didn’t know it was a shark at the time so if she was hurt by her board I would assume the most painful or worried maybe. That said, I didn’t pick up that she was lying. You’re much better than me at this! It’s amazing what you can see.

  5. Tab Moura
    Tab Moura says:

    FASCINATING! The emotional part of the story was her helplessness in being injured… not the moment of injury. To me, this would indicate that she DID experience something scary, but it wasn’t a shark.

  6. Ray Finn
    Ray Finn says:

    Fake news as everyone is jumping on the band wagon. How could she be smiling about any of this?

  7. Brent
    Brent says:

    Physical evidence: The cut seems too clean and uniform edged for a bite. Also, tooth marks on her fin? Where? It looks like a broken fin connection to me.

    • SD888
      SD888 says:

      I agree. It was very angular. Whereas a shark’s jaw is in a semicircle, curved shape. It was the fin. I didn’t see any tooh marks on her fin.

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