Surfer 'loses three quarters of his thigh' in shark attack

A shark took three quarters of a surfers thigh. He survived thanks to the fast actions of his friend
Rex
Frank Thorne31 March 2016

A young surfer is lucky to be alive after being savaged by a shark off an Australian beach as darkness fell.

Professional Brett Connellan owes his life to his best friend – and a pair of off-duty nurses on the beach who bound his leg with a surfboard rope.

The 22-year-old was surfing at Bombo Beach at Kiama, near Wollongong, south of Sydney, shortly after 7pm last night when he was attacked just 100m from the shore. His thigh was bitten through to the bone.

His friend Joel Trist has been praised by police as a hero for helping save him. Mr Trist said he was about 50 metres down the beach from his friend when he realised he was in trouble.

“The first thing I saw was Brett getting thrashed around in the water and a terrible scream,” he told reporters today, as concerned authorities closed all local beaches.

“Acting on instinct, I just paddled as hard as I could towards him and even lost sight of him at one stage.”

Mr Trist pulled his friend onto his board before heading to shore.

“I just said to him, `what’s it like?’ and he said `it’s not good’ and at that point I knew something was horribly wrong.

The man was surfing at Bombo Beach
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”I said ‘quick, jump on my board’ and I grabbed him.”

They stalled in the water but moments later the pair were luckily washed in by the next wave.

One of the paramedics tending to the man, who was treated for pain and blood loss, said he was “missing three quarters of his thigh”.

Ambulance Service spokesman Terry Morrow said two beachgoers who were off-duty nurses saved the surfer’s life by applying a tourniquet made from a surfboard leg rope to his upper thigh before paramedics reached the scene. One of the women was Joel’s girlfriend Agie Krowka, who is a local intensive care nurse.

“He had lost a large proportion of his left thigh, and the quad muscle was torn away right down to the bone,” Mr Morrow said.

“He could’ve bled to death before we arrived on scene. He was very lucky the members of the public were there and acted as they did.”

Mr Connellan was so close to death, paramedics had to give him a blood transfusion on the beach before he was flown by helicopter to Sydney’s St George Hospital where he remained in an induced coma after undergoing emergency surgery overnight.

He was due to undergo further surgery on his hand today.

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