A surfer’s limb bitten by a great white shark washed up on an Australian beach in New South Wales on Tuesday. Doctors are now trying to sew it back to the young man, the BBC reported today.
Twenty-three-year-old Kai McKenzie was surfing near Port Macquarie on Tuesday when he was bitten by a three-metre great white shark. Local residents found the limb, which was washed a short time later by the sea. She was put on ice and taken to the hospital, where the medical team is now assessing the options for surgery. Authorities say the young surfer managed to catch a wave after the shark attack and make it to shore, where an off-duty police officer used a makeshift tourniquet to stop his bleeding.
McKenzie, who is a semi-professional surfer, remains in a serious but stable condition, emergency services said. She appreciated the prompt response of the off-duty police officer who apparently saved the young man’s life. “He used his dog’s lead as a tourniquet … and basically saved his life until paramedics arrived,” NSW Ambulance Service’s Kirran Mowbray said. She described the surfer as calm and “able to speak” after the attack.
McKenzie was taken to a local hospital shortly after the shark attack and then airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital, a major trauma center in Newcastle, about 200 kilometers away. His severed limb also traveled a long way.
According to local media, the avid surfer only recently returned to his hobby after suffering a serious neck injury that forced him to take a break from the sport. To help McKenzie’s family with the costs of treatment and rehabilitation, a collection was created, which has already raised over 75,000 Australian dollars (over a million crowns).
Although Australia records more shark attacks than any other country except the US, fatal attacks are still relatively rare, writes the BBC.
Source: www.tyden.cz
