An attempt to hand feed some sharks in Dugong Bay, Western Australia, went horribly wrong for Perth woman Melissa Brunning, who was bitten on the finger by one of them, and briefly dragged into the water.

Brunning was on a boat feeding the normally placid tawny nurse sharks on May 30, when she felt “immense pressure” on her finger, like a shark was “shredding it off the bone.”

She was worried that she had lost her finger entirely, but escaped with a fracture and a torn ligament. When she accessed medical care, she had to undergo a surgical procedure to recover from infection.

Brunning took full responsibility for the incident; she said it was entirely her fault for attempting to feed the 2.2-meter shark.

“It’s not the shark’s fault at all,” she told Perth Now. “This is not a shark attack, this is just a blonde doing a stupid thing. When you’re in the water, they’re top of the food chain, it’s their domain.” Credit: Melissa Brunning via Storyful