A 23-year-old surfer from Australia survived a vicious shark attack on Tuesday by fighting off the great white that bit off his leg. Shortly after, the surfer’s leg washed up on shore and doctor’s are now trying to determine if they can reattach the severed limb.
Kai McKenzie of Bonny Hills, New South Wales (NSW) was surfing off Australia’s east coast when a three-metre-long great white shark attacked him, severing his right leg, according to local media reports and a GoFundMe page. While “clinging to life,” he was able to fight off the shark and catch a wave back to the beach on his damaged surfboard.
An off-duty police officer witnessed McKenzie fighting off the shark and was there to help him at the shore. He used his dog’s leash as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from the surfer’s leg until paramedics arrived.
“He was very lucky at the time we had a (off-duty) police officer that was walking his dog,” said NSW Ambulance Service acting duty operations officer Kirran Mowbray in an interview with Australia’s ABC News.
“He… essentially saved the man’s life until the paramedics got there.”
McKenzie was first transported to a local hospital before being flown 200 kilometres to John Hunter Hospital, a major trauma centre, for surgery. A GoFundMe page supporting his recovery notes that he is currently in stable condition.
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About an hour after the attack, McKenzie’s severed leg washed up on the beach, reports 9News. The limb was retrieved, put on ice and also flown to John Hunter Hospital. Doctors will now have to assess whether the leg can be reattached.
Generally, severed limbs should be rushed to a hospital within six hours in order to stave off muscle death and have a chance at reattachment, the president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, David Morgan, told the Guardian.
Shark biologists assessed photos from the incident and determined that McKenzie was bitten by a three-metre-long great white shark, according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
Since the attack, tributes have been flooding in from the local surfing community.
McKenzie’s surf team, RAGE, wrote they were “sending love” to “the toughest person we know,” in an Instagram post.
The surfing hardware and content creation company revealed that McKenzie had been injured last year, but “he never once complained always just got on with doing what he loved as soon as possible.”
Surfboard shaper Luke Short, who makes McKenzie’s surfboards as part of a sponsorship deal, specified to ABC News that McKenzie “fractured his neck while he was seeing a band, in the mosh pit.”
“In this situation we’re always trying to pick the positives,” he added. “It’s amazing that he’s survived.”
The GoFundMe campaign raising money for medical expenses has so far amassed over $126,500 as of Thursday afternoon, surpassing its goal.
The campaign was started by a neighbour, who wrote that the McKenzies are “a local family with hearts of gold that would never expect or ask anything of anybody, so let’s give back and show them that they have the communities support in this.”
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
