A shark-attack survivor recently celebrated her 66th birthday and continues to heal after a maneater took a chunk out of her thigh last summer at Rockaway Beach — the first attack there in 70 years.
Tatyana Koltunuk, of Astoria, still has a long road ahead as beach season opened Saturday.
Her daughter, Dasha (Darya) Koltunyuk, celebrated her mother’s April 4 birthday and indomitable human spirit in an “update” post to a GoFundMe page.
Tatyana Koltunuk was swimming alone near Beach 59th Street on Aug. 7 when a shark — possibly a bull, thresher or great white –chomped down on her. AP
Koltunyuk has undergone multiple surgeries following the attack. NY Post“We are so happy to share in this day with you . . . a birthday that feels all the more magical this year in its celebration of a renewed sense of life-force, of an awe for nature, and of the pure strength and goodness of the woman I am so honored to call my mom,” Dasha wrote. “Today especially I keep thinking about the wonder with which she talks about surviving last summer, her reverence for the world around us — and I join her in that feeling all the more.”
Dasha included a photo of a sidewalk flower bed her mom sent her of “that to her looked like a chocolate cake with frosting — always ready to find unexpected beauty and to celebrate it!”
The GoFundMe has raised $103,000 of a stated $125,000 goal — and has provided “aquatherapy visits, orthotics, transportation, and more,” the daughter noted. “Our family is deeply grateful.”
Koltunyuk’s daughter said it was a miracle that her mother survived the attack. Wayne Carrington
Koltunkyk lost about 20 pounds of flesh in the shark attack — the first one in Rockaway Beach in 70 years. Joanna Steidle via StoryfulKoltunyuk, a former marine engineer originally from Ukraine, was swimming alone near Beach 59th Street at around 6 p.m. on Aug. 7 when the predator — possibly a bull or thresher shark or great white — chomped down on her.
“The fact that she’s alive is a miracle,” the dutiful daughter said at the time.
