Dave Pearson, 48, of Coopernook was attacked while surfing his local break about 6.30 last night.

Friend Aaron ‘‘Noddy’’ Wallace of Harrington was surfing with Mr Pearson at the time.

He said Mr Pearson was paddling back out after catching a wave when the shark came up underneath him.

‘‘It didn’t really grab hold of him. It launched itself out of the water, punched up underneath him and knocked him off the board,’’ Mr Wallace said.

‘‘It jumped on him more than anything, it pretty much landed on top of him.’’

Mr Wallace helped Mr Pearson to shore while ‘‘another few guys grabbed towels and called the ambulance’’.

‘‘It was getting late, we shouldn’t have been out there. If you’re going to get attacked that would be the time. It was a stupid time to be in the water.’’

Mr Pearson was flown to the John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition last night.

Intensive care flight paramedic Alan Playford treated Mr Pearson on the beach and said he lost a large amount of blood in the water.

‘‘He said the shark hit him so hard and so fast it felt like a freight train,’’ Mr Playford said.

Mr Playford said it was still too early to tell if Mr Pearson would keep his ‘‘badly damaged’’ left arm but the actions of people on the beach saved his life.

‘‘A lot of people die from losing that much blood, but some people were able to make a makeshift tourniquet on the beach and stop the bleeding,’’ he said.

Just like the female victim from Port Stephens last week Mr Pearson was ‘‘very stoic and brave’’ following the attack, Mr Playford said.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter spokesman Graham Nickisson said Mr Pearson’s left forearm had been bitten and the shark had taken a bite out of his board.

His mother Dorothy Pearson said she got a phone call to ‘‘come home quickly’’ but was too upset to speak last night.

‘‘The rest of the family are all driving down to Newcastle,’’ she said. ‘‘All my children are very close.’’

Crowdy Head Surf Lifesaving Club caretaker Adam Eady, who helped give Mr Pearson first aid, said there had been a number of shark sightings over the past few weeks.