Australia: Pro Surfer Hospitalized After Shark Attack
On Wednesday evening, Brett Connellan was mauled by a shark off the Australian eastern coast, causing him to be air-lifted to the St. George Hospital in Sydney.
According to The Associated Press, police said the 22-year-old was attacked 120 kilometers (75 miles) off Bombo Beach at around 7 PM on Wednesday. His friend and fellow surfer, Joel Trist, heard screaming and before Trist could get near his injured friend, the shark had disappeared.
Connellan allegedly said he wasn't able to see the shark as it approached him while he was surfing about 50 meters (165 feet) away from the rest of the surfers on the beach.
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The outlet further reports that Connellan sustained serious injuries after he was saved by Trist, who pulled him onto a board to safety. "He [Connellan] had lost a large portion of his left thigh, and the quad muscle was torn away right down to the bone," Terry Morrow, Ambulance Service spokesman, told the Illawarra Mercury newspaper.
Morrow said Connellan was lucky. Trist and other people helped him once he was led to shore. Two off-duty nurses helped Trist in preparing a tourniquet to at least stop the bleeding from his friend's thigh. "He could've bled to death before we arrived on scene. He was lucky, the members of the public were there and acted as they did," he said.
CNN says there were other surfers on the beach at the time of the attack but Connellan was farther away from the rest when he was attacked.
State paramedics who responded to the scene stabilized the Australian surfer before he was air-lifted to the hospital and while his injuries are serious, his father says he is already stable.
While some people attacked would want justice served for themselves, Connellan reportedly requested that the shark be left alone. Authorities, on the other hand, are investigating what species the shark belongs to and how big it could possibly be.
