A young surfer in Australia is in critical but stable condition after he was bitten by a great white shark that left him with a “severed right leg.”
Kai McKenzie, 23, of Bonny Hills, was surfing at North Shore Beach in Port Macquarie on Tuesday when the attack took place.
The surfer “saw the shark approach him” but he was “able to fight it off,” Kirran Mowbray, acting duty operations officer with NSW Ambulance Service in Hastings South, told Australia’s ABC News.
“He was pretty courageous and able to turn around and catch a wave to shore,” she detailed, adding he was “lucky” an off-duty police officer was walking his dog nearby and realized what was happening.
“He used a lead off the dog as a tourniquet to wrap around the young man’s leg and essentially saved the man’s life until the paramedics got there,” Mowbray added.
McKenzie’s leg was completely severed in the attack.
The officer was still applying the tourniquet to the surfer when his leg washed ashore, according to 9 News.
McKenzie, who fractured his neck last year, according to a post on Instagram, was first taken to Port Macquarie Base Hospital before he was transferred to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.
Doctors have to assess whether McKenzie’s leg can be reattached as he faces “a number of complex operations,” 9News reported.
McKenzie’s surf team, RAGE, said their youngest teammate also broke his back last year, according to a tribute post on their Instagram page, calling him “the toughest person that we know.”
“He never once complained, always just got on with doing what he loved as soon as possible. He is an inspiring person.”
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The team added: “The whole rage gang loves you man and we will see you soon.”
A GoFundMe campaign was launched by McKenzie’s neighbour to help with the surfer’s road to recovery and has so far raised more than $139,000 ($125,700 CAD).
“As you can imagine, the upcoming medical expenses for his recovery and rehabilitation is something no one would ever be prepared for,” the page reads. “The funds raised will go in assisting Kai in every aspect of his recovery.”