4 lifeguards risked all in bid to save shark attack victim

Avila Beach, San Luis Obispo County -- It wasn't until lifeguard Rich Griguoli and his three colleagues noticed that the surf was red with blood that they realized the danger they were in.

Adrenaline and instinct had brought them running down the pier here Tuesday morning and diving into the cold water with no idea what might be waiting for them as they swam toward Deborah B. Franzman. They'd heard someone shout, "A shark's got her! A shark's got her!" but it didn't register in their minds.

Until they reached Franzman, who was floating face down.

When they saw the terrible wound on her body, they knew something very large and very powerful was nearby. And they began to feel fear.

"We all looked at each other and said, 'We need to get out as quickly as possible,' " Griguoli, 23, said Wednesday. "We did it as fast as we could. We got her out of there."

Their efforts were in vain, though, and Franzman was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the 10th person to die from a shark attack off the California coast since 1952 and the first since 1994.

An autopsy confirmed Wednesday what most had already suspected: Franzman, a 50-year-old junior college instructor who routinely swam among the sea lions off Avila Beach, was killed by a great white shark. The animal, which authorities estimate was between 15 and 18 feet long, stripped the flesh from her left thigh, severing the femoral artery. She probably bled to death before the lifeguards had even hit the water.

"The injuries this woman sustained were catastrophic and not survivable," said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Lt. Martin Basti.

Franzman was widely known around Avila Beach as a strong swimmer who often went for a dip in the sea before work.

"She loved swimming in the ocean," recalled Daniel McNeil, who worked with Franzman teaching sociology at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. "She always felt rejuvenated by it."

Franzman was a devoted athlete who competed regularly in triathlons and enjoyed hiking and playing golf with her son Alex, who at 16 was quickly becoming the better player, friends said. Franzman was, they said, a woman with a great love of adventure.

"She just came back from a trip to Peru with her son," said Cyndi Wheeler, who worked with Franzman at Allan Hancock. "They went backpacking. That was their adventure this year."

Franzman's death has shaken the campus, where she had taught sociology for 14 years and earned a reputation as a devoted teacher popular with her students. The door outside her office was piled high with cards and flowers left by students and colleagues, and campus officials said they would provide counseling to those who want it.

Authorities planned to allow people to resume swimming and surfing at Avila Beach, Cayucos, Morro Bay, Oceano and Pismo today. But many people at Pismo Beach ignored the prohibition Wednesday, and authorities said there was little they could do to keep people out of the water.

"I'll probably be a little nervous, but not really," Rebeka Kennedy, 13, said as she carried her surfboard along Pismo Beach. She was visiting from Vancouver and eager to give surfing a try as her father, Patrick, looked on.

"I might go swimming as well, but not very far out," he said.

Franzman usually swam with friends, but when they couldn't make it Tuesday morning, she donned her wetsuit and fins and dived in as her partner watched from shore.

She was about 75 yards from shore in water roughly 20 feet deep when the shark attacked her from below.

Her partner, whose name was unavailable, screamed for help. Griguoli and his buddies -- Tim Borland, 27, Jeff Fesler, 23, and Billy Larsen, 23 -- were standing on the pier, cheering on their fellow lifeguards as they competed in a show of skill in the water below.

Without a second thought, the four lifeguards dashed down the pier, dived into the water and started swimming. They'd passed the guard shack, with its stores of rescue gear, on the pier but thought they'd lose precious time stopping for supplies.

They'd all heard the woman yelling about the shark, but none of them quite believed it.

"We didn't really know, and we didn't see it," Larsen recalled Wednesday.

It took two or three minutes to reach Franzman. Borland carefully rolled her over.

They all saw the wound.

Griguoli cradled her head as the others supported her body. Together they kicked toward shore.

"It felt like a really long time that we were out there. It probably wasn't that long, but given the circumstances . . ." Borland said. "When I touched down on the bottom, I was really relieved. I was really happy."

It wasn't until they carried Franzman ashore and got a good look at her face that they realized who she was.

"We saw her every single week for 10 years," Borland said. "She was strong. She was fit. She was a real swimmer."

Some around town are calling Borland and his friends heroes. The way they see it, though, they were just doing their jobs.

"That woman, if she had a chance at life, we were her chance, and we were all willing to risk that to try to save her," Borland said. "We did the best that we could do."

08-20) 12:43 PDT AVILA BEACH, Calif. (AP) --

A 50-year-old college instructor taking a morning swim bled to death after she was attacked by a great white shark 15 to 18 feet long, preliminary autopsy results showed Wednesday.

Deborah Franzman of Nipomo was killed Tuesday as she swam 75 yards offshore alongside a group of seals. Witnesses reported seeing a large fin as Franzman screamed for help.

Lifeguards pulled Franzman to shore, where she died. Bite marks on her legs were consistent with those seen in previous attacks by great white sharks, San Luis Obispo County sheriff's Lt. Martin Basti said.

Shark expert Robert Lea, present during the autopsy, estimated the fish was between 15 and 18 feet long.

"That's incredibly large," Basti said.

An unknown species of shark was spotted in the area after the attack, Basti said.

Franzman likely bled to death after her left femoral artery was severed in the attack, Basti said.

Franzman's death marked the 10th fatal shark attack in California since 1952 and the first death since 1994, according to state Fish and Game records.

Franzman was a sociology instructor at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. She swam in the area by the Avila Beach Pier several times a week, friend Andrea Sanders said through tears.

"She loved it. She would talk about how fun it was to swim and play with the seals," Sanders said.

Franzman was wearing a full wetsuit and swim fins when she was attacked, Lea said. The state marine biologist said the shark may have mistaken Franzman, silhouetted against the surface, for a seal. The sharks are ambush predators and attack their prey from below.

Avila Beach, located about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles, was closed to swimmers after the attack.

Great white sharks are a protected species in California.

Avila Beach, San Luis Obispo County -- A woman swimming among sea lions in the ocean off the Central Coast town of Avila Beach died Tuesday morning after she was bitten by what authorities believe was a large great white shark.

Deborah B. Franzman, 50, was attacked as she swam alone within sight of beachgoers on the Avila Beach pier and of about 30 lifeguards training on the beach.

The shark struck from below, breaching the surface and tearing most of the tissue from Franzman's left thigh. Although no one saw the entire animal, a witness saw a gray fin in the churning water, and authorities said the nature and severity of the attack left little doubt it was a white shark.

"The bite was fairly massive," said Robert Lea, a marine biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game. "The white shark is one of the few animals that could make a bite that large. From the description witnesses gave, everything indicates" it was a white shark.

Should the autopsy slated for today confirm that Franzman was killed by a shark, it would be the first fatal shark attack along the California coastline since 1994. Two men were attacked by white sharks off Bay Area beaches last year, but both survived.

Despite the animals' fearsome reputation as relentless predators, attacks by great white sharks -- and all sharks, for that matter -- are exceedingly rare. There have been 106 shark attacks along the West Coast since the Department of Fish and Game began keeping statistics in 1952. Just 10 have been fatal.

All of the deaths occurred in California, and at least nine involved great white sharks, officials said.

Authorities closed the picturesque beach in Avila Beach as well as those in Cayucos, Morro Bay, Oceano and Pismo Beach immediately after the 8:15 a.m. attack. The beaches reopened at midday, drawing hundreds of visitors, but authorities barred people from entering the water until further notice.

Avila Beach is a beach town of 2,300 people in San Luis Obispo County 241 miles south of San Francisco. Franzman lived in the nearby town of Nipomo and was a regular at the beach, officials said.

Her teenage son, Alex Franzman, said his mother taught philosophy and ethics at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. She was a strong athlete who swam in the ocean three or four times weekly. She was often joined by friends, but she swam alone Tuesday when none showed up, he said.

Her partner, who declined to comment, watched from shore as Franzman ventured into the sea. Franzman was about 75 yards from shore and 200 yards south of Avila Pier in water roughly 20 feet deep when the attack occurred, officials said. Authorities said she was well within the swimming boundary.

As she swam, more than two dozen local lifeguards were training and competing in shows of skill just north of the pier.

SWIMMING WITH SEA LIONS

Witnesses told investigators that Franzman, clad in a wetsuit and fins, was swimming among a pod of sea lions when the mammals suddenly vanished and something large and gray breached the water.

A friend of Franzman's screamed, "A shark's got her! A shark's got her," bringing five lifeguards dashing off the pier, said Casey Nielsen, head of the San Luis Harbor District, which has jurisdiction over the beach.

One grabbed a passer-by's cell phone and called 911. The others dove into the water despite having no rescue gear and little idea what might be waiting for them, Nielsen said.

"It was heroism," he said. "They knew someone was bit, and they went into the water and brought her to shore anyway. My first thought would have been 'Stay out of the water.' "

The four men, who could not be reached for comment, pulled Franzman ashore and loaded her into a pickup truck, where they began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and tried to stop the bleeding.

"A bunch of local lifeguards come out and drag her in, and she was bleeding. It was bad," eyewitness David Abbott, his voice cracking, told KCOY-TV in Santa Maria.

Paramedics pronounced Franzman dead at the scene.

SIGNS POINT TO GREAT WHITE

Experts said the attack is typical of the white shark, an "ambush predator" that strikes quickly and from below with a devastating bite.

One witness told investigators the animal bit the woman twice, but that could not be confirmed.

"It appears she was bitten once primarily in the left leg, but there also is a wound on the right leg," said Lea of Fish and Game.

Few animals other than the white shark are capable of so large a bite, he said.

The bite in all likelihood severed Franzman's femoral artery, contributing to her death, Lea said. Had the bite missed the artery, she might have survived the attack but would have undoubtedly lost her leg, he added.

Lea said he will not know for sure it was a white shark until he examines the woman's wounds, which also may shed light on the size of the animal.

"We know it's large, and large for a white shark can be anywhere from 12 to 18 feet," he said. Such an animal could easily top two tons, he said.

Sharks do not prey upon humans, Lea said. Instead, researcher believe most attacks are "a case of mistaken identity" in which the animals mistake humans - - especially those wearing fins or riding surfboards -- for seals or sea lions, their primary prey.

The most recent California shark attack occurred last year on Thanksgiving Day, when Michael Casey was bitten by a 16-foot white shark while enjoying the surf at Salmon Creek Beach in Sonoma County.

Casey, a Santa Rosa deputy city attorney, was bitten at least twice in the legs; the resulting wounds required more than 80 staples to close.

Another surfer, Lee Fontan of Bolinas, was bitten four times by a 12- to 14- foot great white on April 30, 2002, near Stinson Beach in Marin County. -------------------------------------------------------------