DOCTORS are working frantically to stabilise a surfer who is believed to have lost part of his leg in a horrific shark attack in Falcon, near Mandurah on Tuesday afternoon.
The man, who is well known in the Mandurah area, was out at Surfbreak Lookout when he was bitten just before 4pm.
Fellow surfers dragged the 29-year-old from the ocean and immediately administered first aid until paramedics arrived.
The RAC rescue chopper was sent to the scene however the surfer was taken to Peel Health Campus for treatment by ambulance.
A Peel Health Campus spokeswoman told PerthNow the man was in a serious condition and doctors were still working to stabilise him.
She said once he was stable he would be transported to Royal Perth Hospital for further treatment.
Earlier, witnesses told PerthNow the man suffered horrific injuries as a result of the bite.
Falcon Bay Beach Cafe worker Shaimous Wright said two men came rushing in after 4pm asking for ice, telling him someone’s leg had been bitten off.
“We gave it to them for free, apparently his leg got bitten off,” he told PerthNow.
“They ran in saying ‘we need ice, we need ice, his leg was bitten fully off’.
“We don’t know if they knew him, all we know is that they were just trying to help.”
He said customers and staff were in a state of shock over the incident.
Jodie Hough, a Halls Head local, said the man was still conscious when he was brought up the stairs from the beach.
She said he had no right leg from the knee down and believed a couple of people had dragged him from the water.
Ms Hough said there were a lot of people in the water at the time.
Falcon Bay beach has been closed one kilometre in each direction by City of Mandurah rangers.
Mandurah Coastal Times reporter Rachel Fenner said the man was aged about 25 to 30 and his injury was below the knee.
She said paramedics performed CPR on the surfer for about 15 minutes before he was taken by ambulance to hospital.
His injured leg was packed with ice as he was carried on a stretcher to the ambulance.
He was one of about 20 surfers at the popular break on Tuesday afternoon.
Ms Fenner said other surfers had seen a large shark in the area in recent days.
Just before 8am on Tuesday morning a 3.5 metre great white shark was spotted about 1.8km offshore at nearby Pyramids Beach.
But the species of shark involved in the incident is not yet known.
A Fisheries Department spokesman said its officers were aware of the incident and investigating but he was unable to comment further.
Surf Life Saving WA tweeted just before 6pm that it had received a report at 3.53pm (WST) of a shark sighting at the popular surf spot. It then tweeted almost half an hour after that it received a report of a shark bite involving a surfer.
source:perthnow.com.au
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