Woman bitten by shark off southern California coast

Hospital officials confirmed that an American woman was apparently bitten by a shark off the coast in the southeast of Los Angeles and she remained hospitalized on Tuesday.

Maria Korcsmaros, 52, needed to be hospitalized for at least another week and that only time will tell if she will have full use of her right arm, doctors said at a hospital news conference.

The woman was pulled bleeding from the ocean off Corona del Mar, Newport Beach at 4:15 p.m. local time Sunday when lifeguards on a patrol boat noticed she was in distress, according to Newport Beach spokeswoman Tara Finnigan.

Authorities said her wounds appeared to be consistent with a shark bite.

Officials at Orange County Global Medical Center identified the woman as Maria Korcsmaros, who is an aerobics and fitness trainer in Corona. She is a mother of three, who are aged 16, 22, and 24.

Doctors hailed her, a fitness instructor, for staying "remarkably calm" through the ordeal and credited her level of physical fitness for helping her survive.

Dr. Philip Rotter, director of orthopedic surgery at Orange County Global Medical Center, said Korcsmaros suffered what appeared to be one large bite on the right side of her body, stretching from her upper body to her pelvic area. Her right arm was seriously wounded.

The wound was "very obviously a mouth," he said. "You can see individual marks from individual teeth."

Hospital officials said Korcsmaros was attacked when she was swimming about 150 yards (about 137 meters) off the coast, training for a half-Iron Man competition scheduled for July 10 in Canada.

The attack prompted authorities to clear the ocean water of swimmers from the Balboa Pier south to Crystal Cove State Beach. The stretch remains closed.

Lifeguards searched the water for signs of sharks but "have not spotted a shark or any significant marine life activity," Finnigan said. Endit