Rockaway Beach Shark Attack Victim Struggling With Recovery, Family Turns to GoFundMe

Tatyana Koltunyuk planned to use her upcoming retirement to swim in the ocean every day, walk her dogs through New York City and take vacations.

All of that was aggressively put on hold when she was attacked by a shark at the city’s Rockaway Beach nearly two weeks ago. It’s the city's first known shark attack in 70 years.

Koltunyuk had five surgeries in the first eight days after the attack, and will likely have many more.

The family of the 65-year-old woman has set up a GoFundMe page to help offset both her short- and anticipatedlong-term medical costs.

“Her medical team has told us that recovery will take several years of intense physical therapy and close medical monitoring, during which time she will have significantly limited mobility,” said Koltunyuk’s daughter, Darya Koltunyuk.

“Though the full impact of her injury is not yet known, it has left her with a permanent disability," she added.

Koltunyuk emigrated to the U.S. with her husband and Darya many years ago. Tatyana's husband died of a heart attack just a few weeks after their arrival in the United States, leaving her to raise 3-year-old Darya, according to the GoFundMe page.

While enjoying a day at Rockaway Beach early this month, Koltunyuk was swimming in water about 10-feet deep when she was attacked by a shark.

Lifeguards pulled the unconscious woman to the beach after the shark ripped away some 20 pounds of flesh.

After her surgeries — with more to come — Koltunyuk will still face long-term physical and psychological therapy.

She'll also need mobility assistance devices, transportation to and from therapies and consultations, and to transform her home to make it both accessible and comfortable for her recovery.

“It has become clear in the nightmarish days since her trauma that the expenses for her care and post-trauma adjusted living will be considerable,” her daughter said.

The family hopes to raise $100,000. Just over half that amount was already reached Friday afternoon, just two days after the creation of the GoFundMe page.

Since the shark attack earlier this month, the New York Police Department has launched drone searches over the city to help protect against shark attacks.

Last week Rockaway Beach was temporarily closed after a shark was spotted. The water was reopened about two hours later.

The shark attack on Koltunyuk was the first in New York City since 1953, which also happened at Rockaway Beach.