Shark Attack: Surfers Flee Beach – Video
On Sunday afternoon, a 16-year-old boy was attacked by a shark while surfing Cabarita Beach in New South Wales, Australia. The boy was bitten on his right side – leg and arm – and was flown to the hospital in critical condition due to his injuries.
Fellow surfers and beachgoers can be seen in footage helping the young man, carrying him up the beach, and tying a tourniquet to quell the bleeding before emergency crews arrived.
“I’m not sure whether he was with any other friends at the time of the incident, but by the time our lifeguards got there he had already had a tourniquet applied to those impacted limbs,” NSW Surf Lifesaving CEO Stephen Pearce told the ABC.
It’s unclear what kind of shark was involved in the attack; however, some have suspected a great white. Following the attack, jet skis were used to clear the water. And a helicopter was used to survey the water, searching for the shark, but they didn’t find anything.
This time of year, according to Pearce, whales are migrating up and down the coast, and that can lead to increased shark activity.
And even after the attack, when the victim and the fellow surfers were fleeing the water, footage shows the shark coming close into shallow water, perhaps even chasing them for another bite. See the footage of that above.
Local surf report Instagram account, Nicka35wrote: “Unbelievable footage shows the 2 metre plus shark chasing the victim and his rescuers all the way to the shoreline today at Cabarita Headland. Huge effort but the guys to not only save this kid but put their own lives on the line in the process.”
Related: 9-Year-old Bitten by Shark Speaks: “Blood Everywhere” (Video)
However, attacks like are still relatively rare in this region. Pearce added:
“Cabarita Beach is a beautiful, picturesque beach and unfortunately I think it might be a case of ‘wrong time, wrong place’ at this stage for the young fella.”
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