British grandmother killed by great white shark while diving near Australia

A British grandmother was killed by a great white shark more than 16 feet long while she was diving off Australia’s west coast.

Doreen Collyer, a 60-year-old senior university nursing lecturer in midwifery, was killed by a giant shark while diving off Mindarie, 22 miles north of Perth in Western Australia over the weekend.

The Western Australian Fisheries Department believes a large white shark was responsible for the fatal attack on the woman on Sunday.

The woman’s 43-year-old diving companion managed to get her back on the boat, between One and Three Mile reefs, but Collyer died from her injuries.

Fishermen who rushed to help and who saw the killer shark said it was bigger than their 18-foot boat.

Collyer’s diving buddy John said about 25 minutes into the dive, he felt something brush past him and when he surfaced, he saw his friend had been badly attacked.

The shark has now been deemed an “imminent threat” to public safety, so it can legally be killed, with the department’s director-general issuing an order to fish for the shark.

Collyer’s husband, David, who made the move to Australia with his wife, said in a statement: “Doreen was a beautiful person and everyone loved her. She was a devoted grandmother, mother and loving wife.”

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