A 55-year-old nurse who was seriously injured in a fall on a remote Queensland island swam through shark-infested waters for help.

She fell from a lookout at Murray Island, in the Torres Strait last Saturday, fracturing her pelvis, leg and back.

Instead of laying down and hoping help would find her on the tiny island, paramedic David Cameron said she swam out to sea.

• Australia posts record number of shark attacks in 2015
• Air patrol spots real-life Jaws off Australian coast
• Bull … shark … bar? Weird sight in Perth

Thankfully, the tide was on her side.

“Unfortunately, the only way to get herself to safety was to drag herself to the water and work her way around the outside of the island, so in the water, swimming, to get some help,” he said.

The woman is recovering in Innisfail Hospital. Photo: Queensland Ambulance Service

“She swam around to the other side of the island and some guys helped her out of the water and transported to the healthcare centre, where she works.”

Mr Cameron, who had been flown in a helicopter to retrieve the woman, said her rescue required a whole community response.

Mr Cameron said the nurse was in high spirits, despite the pain of her injuries.

“I think she knows how lucky she was,” he said.

“There are sharks in the area, you can see them from the sky as you fly in.”

The nurse was flown to Thursday Island, then Horn Island, then onto mainland Queensland.

She is recovering in the Innisfail Hospital in a stable condition.

–ABC