A 23-year-old Port Macquarie man has been attacked by "quite a large shark" while surfing at North Shore Beach.
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00:00Now what we know at this stage is that a 23 year old local man from Port Macquarie was
00:24surfing about 100 metres north of the northern breakwater here at Port Macquarie. Around
00:30that time it appears he's been attacked by quite a large shark and has suffered significant
00:36injuries to his right leg. It's a very traumatic sight and very traumatic for that young man
00:41that was involved. We're working with DPI to try and locate that shark and identify
00:44what type of shark that was. We've seized a number of exhibits in relation to the attack
00:50and they will be taken back to Port Macquarie Police Station.
01:04The young man in his 20s was out surfing. He was by himself at the time. He saw the
01:08shark approach him. He was able to fight it off. He was pretty courageous, able to then
01:12turn around and catch a wave in the shore. On the shore he was very lucky at that time
01:17that we had a retired police officer that was walking his dog. He used the lead off
01:23the dog as a tourniquet to wrap around the young man's leg and essentially saved his
01:28life until the paramedics got there. He was quite calm and he was able to talk to us.
01:32He was completely with it and was able to actually talk to us about how he was able
01:35to fight the shark off at the time. He's just a really brave and courageous young man to
01:41be able to have done that. I think this sort of highlights the need for basic first aid
01:46and understanding that if there is serious bleeding that just using whatever you have
01:50on hand to tourniquet a patient, that's obviously saved his life today. But wound care, any
01:56first aid, it obviously assists us in our efforts once we get there on scene.