THE FIGHT OF HER LIFE

Two years after battling a great white shark that attacked her husband, Karen Milligan shares her story of courage and loss, and her new mission to save the sea.

- GENEVIEVE GANNON

Karen Milligan and Gary Johnson hadn’t planned to take the boat out on what would be their last day on Earth together, but the weather was perfect and the warm cerulean waters off the coast of Esperance were calling to the seasoned scuba divers. It was January 2020, and the couple had just enjoyed four idyllic days diving at Woody Island, searching for groper fish in the Recherche Archipelago. Gary was due back at work the next day, so they thought, ‘One more dive, why not?’ They packed up their gear and Karen’s underwater camera, and headed for one of Gary’s favourite sites – the shallow water near Devils Rock, not far from the home they shared.

“We anchored and it was a beautiful day. Lovely weather. We sat in the boat probably for 10 to 15 minutes, putting on our gear. Just chatting and just being,” says Karen.

The sun was warm on their faces and they felt utterly at peace. This final dive would mark the end of a much-needed Christmas break after a challenging couple of years. Over the previous 18 months, Karen had been retraining as a psychologist while flying in and out of Perth on government contract work. She and Gary had hardly seen each other, and it was making them miserable. “We wanted to be living together; we didn’t want all this time apart,” she says.