A spearfisherman was mauled by a shark in a terrifying attack in off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The man, understood to be in his 60s was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after suffering horror bites to both his arms and one of his hands causing severe bleeding.
The Mirror reports how the shocking attack happened close to Curtis Island in Gladstone, about 352 miles north of Brisbane at about 8.25am local time today. Emergency crews took to the man to Gladstone hospital where medics describe his condition as stable, after what officials called a “unique incident.”
Life-saving CPR was performed on the spearfisherman on Curtis Island bystanders before paramedics arrived and transported him to Gladstone using a police boat. Acting officer in charge of Gladstone Station Danielle Martin said the bystanders’ efforts had played a crucial role.
According to MailOnline, officer Martin said: “We don’t respond to these very often but when we do they are a unique incident that require us to work with other services to bring the patient to hospital in a timely manner. We were lucky in this case as shark bites can be significant but we were able to transport him with minor to moderate injuries on this occasion.”
Fisheries Queensland said it had offered assistance should it be needed, the outlet added. A spokesperson for the organisation said: “Our thoughts are with the injured man and anyone who witnessed the incident, as well as those who assisted at the scene. There are no shark nets or drumlines at this location and there is no information currently available about the circumstances or the shark species involved.”
According to the Australian Shark-Incident Database there have been four shark attacks in the country this year. Shark attacks have also been recently documented in other countries relatively close to Australia.
A German tourist in Thailand was mauled by a shark and rushed to hospital as she swam in front of her hotel in Phang Nga, Thailand on November 29. Horrified tourists helped her hobble ashore as blood spilt onto the sand from a gaping 12 inches (30cm) wound on her left lower leg.
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