Bondi shark attack

A BIT of skin was all that connected a surfer's left hand to his arm last night after a shark attack at Bondi - the first documented at Australia's most famous beach since 1929 and the second in Sydney this week.

The surfer, known last night only as Glen, 33, of Dover Heights, suffered deep cuts to his arm when he was attacked by the shark while surfing the break off South Bondi about 8pm.

He was in a serious condition in intensive care at St Vincent's Hospital this morning.

Last night's attack took place 36 hours after a navy clearance diver was mauled off Woolloomooloo, in Sydney Harbour.

James McIntosh, 29, who works for the surfing magazine Stab, was paddling back out to the break when he realised there had been a shark attack and headed to shore.

He tied a leg rope around the victim's arm as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. "I just kept pulling that leg rope as hard as I could. As soon as we put the tourniquet on there wasn't any bleeding."

Mr McIntosh said the man "didn't think he was going to make it".

"He was in a fair bit of a mess. He said: 'Tell Lisa, that I love her.' Then he said, 'She's pregnant'. He thought his number was up, I guess."

Mr McIntosh's friend, Will Onus, 25, was paddling on his board next to the victim, who was sitting on his board, waiting to catch a wave, when the shark dragged him through the water.

"Will felt a knock and then saw the shark just throw [the victim] a big distance,"

The victim got back on his board and caught a wave to shore.

A French tourist, Mikael Thomas, 21, said of the man's injuries: "We could see all of his bones cut like with a big knife. It was very clear. We could see all into his hand."

Bondi Beach was closed between 6am and 7.45am this morning, as lifeguards searched the water as was usual after a shark attack, a Bondi lifeguard said.

Able Seaman Paul de Gelder, 31, was attacked on Wednesday during a counter-terrorism exercise. He underwent a second operation yesterday, losing his right hand, and was in a serious but stable condition in intensive care last night, a spokesman from St Vincent's Hospital said.

The Sydney Harbour Swim Classic will go ahead next month despite the attacks...


Another surfer, Kane Skennar, 35, said surfers and fishermen had noticed a big increase in shark sightings around Sydney this summer. "There's going to be more attacks," he said

Bondi shark attack second strike in two days | smh.com.au

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