Man attacked by shark paddles himself back to shore to get help

A man who was mauled by a shark off the coast of a popular beach in Australia managed to paddle himself back to shore to get help, police said today.

David Quinlivan, 65, was on his surf ski when he was attacked by the shark off the coast of Black Head Beach, Hallidays Point in the state of Forster.

Police say he fell into the water but got back on the surf ski and managed to get to shore. Bystanders were then able to help him from the water, they added.

He sustained cuts to his lower calf and a bite down to the bone on his left ankle.

An ambulance was called to the beach in New South Wales at about 11.45am local time on Friday with a Westpac Rescue Helicopter arriving shortly afterwards.

He was then flown to the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle for emergency surgery to his leg. The state ambulance service described the injury as serious but not life-threatening.

Warren Thompson saw the incident unfold.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald: “I was down there checking out the surf conditions when I saw the paddler fall off the side of his ski.

“Something clearly had knocked him off the ski and he was hanging on to the edge. There were a couple of us on the beach and we all just sprinted to the water to see what we could do to help.

“He had lost his paddle but was able to climb back onto the ski and caught a wave to the shore. It looked to us like he was having heart attack.”

Two weeks ago, a 38-year-old surfer suffered life-threatening injuries when he was attacked by a shark at Port Macquarie, 60 miles north of Forster.

The attack follows a spate of similar incidents. Three weeks ago, a 52-year-old surfer was seriously injured as he repeatedly punched a shark that mauled him off Evans Head, 140 miles north of Port Macquarie. It was the eleventh attack in five months along the same 12-mile stretch of northern New South Wales coast.

Elsewhere, on 9 February, a 41-year-old Japanese tourist was killed around the town of Ballina, also in northern New South Wales.