A shark has bitten a man at McKenzies Beach, Malua Bay, on the South Coast of NSW.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Surfer Peter Forsyth heard the paddleboarder cry for help shortly before 7am on Saturday, April 11.
I was coming in on a wave and heard him scream," Mr Forsyth said.
"He was only about 20 metres from the sand.
"I thought he had been stung by a ray.
"As I got closer, I could see big bite marks and blood coming out of his leg.
Mr Forsyth believes the man had been standing in a gutter, in waist deep water, ready to jump back on his paddle board, when the shark struck.
"The shark grabbed him," he said.
"He tried to kick it off with his other foot.
"It was latched onto him and he kicked it off."
With fellow surfer Danny Freeman, Mr Forsyth helped the man ashore and gave first aid.
"He was pretty tough," Mr Forsyth said.
"He said, 'well, that's ruined my weekend'."
The pair, who both teach at St Peter's, Broulee, washed the wound and used a towel as an improvised pressure bandage with gaffa tape.
"We had to tie it tightly to stop the bleeding," Mr Forsyth, a Bronze Medallion holder, said.
"They were quite deep perforations - it was quite nasty."
The man refused the offer of an ambulance and drove himself to hospital, where he was later discharged.
"I think he was in a bit of shock," Mr Forsyth said.
Visibility was poor and neither surfer saw the shark.
"It is just a guess, but it could have been a small bronze whaler or a bull shark, that was maybe three or four foot long," Mr Forsyth said.
However he and Mr Freeman immediately returned to the water for another hour of surfing.
"It is the luck of the draw," Mr Forsyth said.
"You go into their environment and if you get bitten, you get bitten.
"But I did not paddle anywhere near where he got bitten!"
Mr Freeman, of Malua Bay, said he had been surfing there since 1990 and had not heard of a shark attack.
However, he was concerned to alert parents who use the popular swimming spot.
Lifesavers closed McKenzies, Rosedale and Malua Bay beaches as a precaution.
Mr Freeman said the injured man did not want his name published, but had contacted him to say he was OK.
