The brave woman who jumped into Sydney Harbour to save a struggling dog said she didn’t think about sharks because her “instincts” took over.
Shannon Clark from Woolloomooloo, who works as an office manager at the popular China Doll restaurant in Finger Wharf, sprang into action after hearing a commotion just before noon on Monday.
“People were saying, ‘There’s a dog in the water! Dog in the water!'” Clark told Daily Mail Australia.
When Mrs. Clark looked outside to see what was happening, she saw the owner calling the dog from the other side of the dock.
Despite the owner’s calls, the dog continued to struggle in the water and appeared to be close to drowning.
“I thought, ‘That dog is so small.’ I think it was a King Charles Spaniel, but it looked like a puppy – brand new,” she said.
‘It must have been two or three kilos, cute.
“And I look at the situation and think, ‘She (the owner) is not doing anything. Nothing is happening.'”
Shannon Clark from Woolloomooloo, who works as an office manager for the popular China Doll restaurant in Finger Wharf, sprang into action after she heard a commotion just before noon on Monday
Shannon Clark took off her shoes and pants and ‘jumped in’ when she saw that no one else would do anything to save the dog
Then Mrs. Clark decided to jump into the water and save the dog.
‘Everyone was staring at this poor dog running around in circles, not knowing what was going on. So I thought, if no one’s going in, I’ll go in.’
“I ran over there quickly, took off my shoes and pants and jumped in,” she said.
By this time there was already a large crowd, but Mrs. Clark was not deterred.
“I thought, ‘I can swim well, so I can do this,’” she said.
“I’m a dog owner myself, so all I could think was, if this was my puppy, oh my God, I would have been there right away when he fell in the water.”
Ms. Clark, who is also a professional dancer, attributed her talents to the swimming lessons she took as a child.
The alert rescuer said his instincts took over as he held the dog in the water to prevent him from drowning.
“I think it was just kind of an instinct. Obviously I wanted to protect the puppy and make him as safe as possible and that was the best position I felt I was in,” she said.
‘Luckily the dog was small enough that I could balance it on my shoulder.’
Given that the rescue took place less than 2km from where former Navy diver Paul de Gelder lost his right hand and leg in a shark attack in 2009, Ms Clark is constantly asked if she is worried about being injured.
“No, I didn’t even think about sharks,” she said.
‘I was probably more worried about the dog than I was about myself.
‘Now people have said that, and I think, ‘Oh yeah, I think so,’ but at the time I just thought, ‘Dog. I have to help.’
The dog lover wasn’t thinking about sharks and was purely focused on rescuing the struggling pup from the water (pictured is Mrs Clark with her dog Chilli)
The brave swimmer went back to work and continued her day as if nothing had happened
“I wish I was that responsible (to watch for sharks). But if something’s meant to happen, it’s meant to happen. That’s life, I guess.”
The accidental heroine said her coworkers and employees from another restaurant covered her with tablecloths when she emerged from the water.
“I wish I had chosen underwear with more material that day… it would have been very kind of everyone to protect my modesty,” she laughed.
Ms. Clark’s coworker wrapped the dog up to dry, after which the owner came over and offered to buy the office manager a thank-you gift for saving her beloved pet.
Then Mrs. Clark saw that there were many men standing there and she was shocked that no one had helped her.
“I looked at the boys and thought, ‘Come on, boys.’ Someone should have gotten there before me, but no one did,” she said.
Amazingly, the brave swimmer went back to work and continued her day as if nothing had happened.
“I still had my jeans, they were dry and I at least had a dry sweater (at the office), but I had to take off my underwear and top and just went about my day as normal.”
