Swiss tourist who survived Crowdy Bay shark attack returns home
Lukas Schindler, 26, has returned to Zurich after undergoing surgery to his right thigh where the shark mauled him when he was punching it to save his girlfriend, Livia Mulheim.
The Swiss tourist who miraculously survived an attack by a three-metre bull shark has returned home to be with his family where he is healing from his injury and the haunting ordeal of watching his girlfriend die as he battled the predator.
Lukas Schindler, 26, has returned to Zurich two weeks after undergoing surgery to the back of his right thigh where the animal mauled him when he was punching it to drive it off his girlfriend, Livia Mulheim.
It is believed the couple who at the time of the attack were filming their dream swim with dolphins at remote Kylies Beach in Crowdy Bay National Park, 300km north of Sydney, made the error of interacting with the pod among which there were up to 20 calves.
Shark survivor David Pearson, who survived an attack in the area by a three-metre bull shark in 2011, said he was swimming at a beach close by three days after the Saturday morning attack.
“I saw a man on a boat who was on the water at Kylies Beach the morning of the attack and he saw dolphins and their babies in the water that morning – what people don’t realise is sharks follow the pod and pick off the young and weak ones for food,” he said.
“Dolphins look cute but they were out swimming with their babies, there were about 20 of them, I was out in the water, on the next beach along, and saw that pod and the babies and moved quickly along.
“I’ve been told from people who know him that the young Swiss man has now returned home to be with his family, it will take him a long time to process what he’s gone through, the fact he survived when his girlfriend didn’t, and witnessing her last moments …
“He has been going through counselling and he was up and about walking a few days after the operation, which is a good sign,” he said.
“What happened to the couple was a matter of bad timing,” he said.
“Swimming with dolphins where there are babies and at dawn or dusk which is prime time for shark activity is not a good combination.”
It is understood the boy of Ms Mulheim, 25, has been taken back to the Swiss capital Bern where she is from.
The young couple had set up a GoPro camera to film their early morning swim with dolphins when the three metre bull shark struck.
She is understood to have lost her right arm in the attack.
Despite being bitten on the back of the right thigh, Mr Schindler dragged her to the shore with her body and then staggered to his phone and called emergency services.
A bystander was coached by triple-0 operators on how to tie a tourniquet around Schindler’s thigh which saved his life. He left the John Hunter Hospital last week where he was recovering from surgery to his leg.
A spokesman for the Consulate General of Switzerland said both families of the Swiss nationals were still receiving consular support.
“The FDFA is supporting the relatives during this difficult time within the framework of consular protection,” a spokesman said.
“For data protection and privacy reasons, we cannot provide any further information.”
The couple had been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime after Schindler completed an exchange semester at the University of Technology in Sydney this month.
The former First Lieutenant in the Swiss Armed Forces ran the Sydney Marathon in just under three hours in August.
He had spent time in Bondi, where he took a “top notch” diving course with Dive Course Bondi, writing online “I had an amazing time.”
Afterwards he uploaded an illustration drawn on a whiteboard showing him with two other students riding a shark.
They had driven down from Noosa where they took to social media to praise the “incredibly memorable” bed and breakfast they stayed in after spending a few days camping.
Other posts on social media took on a more disturbing meaning. They visited a popular beach deep in Wallarah National Park in Lake Macquarie called “Shark Hole” and described it as a “magical place”.
Mr Pearson has since started a support group for shark victims called Bite Club and planned to install community shark bite kits, which contain tourniquets, at the beach before Christmas.
“I’ll be doing it in their honour, I’m not saying it would have saved them, but if helps save a life down the line, then we’ve done good work,” he said.
The Minns government is rolling out a $2.5 million program to deploy drones to unpatrolled surfing spots and for 200 “bite kits” to be sent to regional beaches this summer following the sharks in recent months.
Mercury Psillakis, 57, lost his life in September at Dee Why corralling his surfing buddies together for safety when a 5 metre Great White breached and took him.
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