Shark victims saved by paramedic in tour group
Two British visitors attacked by a shark in the latest Whitsundays horror were lucky to have a person with medical expertise as part of their tour group.
QLD News
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SHOCKED tourists on a day cruise watched as two British men were mauled in a horror double attack in the Whitsundays yesterday.
English backpacker Alistair Raddon, 28, had his right foot bitten off and his friend Danny Maggs, 22, suffered serious injuries to his right calf.
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In the fifth attack in the holiday hotspot in the past year, an unknown breed of shark bit one man, before coming back to maul his friend.
Horrified tourists heard screams and saw blood in the water as the pair thrashed around.
“He was shouting, ‘shark, shark’,” said Taiwanese national Chien Wang, 22.
“Workers on the boat went to help him. I saw him bleeding.”
She had been among those on the ZigZag Whitsundays tour to Whitehaven Beach and was back on the boat when she heard shouting.
“I didn’t think there would be any sharks in that area,” she said.
The group had been snorkelling at Hook Passage, their first stop of the day, when the British men were attacked about 10.17am.
The pair had been wrestling in the water just before the attack.
RACQ CQ Rescue crewman Grant Bollington said Mr Raddon told him that at first he did not realise he had been bitten by a shark.
“He basically said they were wrestling in the water at the time,” Mr Bollington said.
“He thought his mate grabbed him by the leg really hard and turned around and saw the blood in the water.”
About 10 people were still in the water at the time of the attack, witnesses said.
A quick-thinking European tourist, who is a paramedic, stemmed the bleeding using a tourniquet and potentially saved both men’s lives.
The ZigZag Whitsundays tour boat made the 20-minute trip to Coral Sea Marina, where the two men were met by Queensland Ambulance Service crews.
Paramedics continued to stabilise the men, who were taken to the Whitsunday PCYC oval where they were met by the rescue chopper and flown to Mackay Base Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The attack comes less than 12 months after the fatal mauling of Dr Daniel Christidis at Cid Harbour.
He was one of three people attacked within two months.
In a horror 24 hours in September last year Justine Barwick, 46, and 12-year-old Hannah Papps were also attacked at Cid Harbour, which is about 11km from Hook Passage.
Ms Barwick suffered critical injuries to her leg, while Hannah lost a leg in the attack.
On its Facebook page yesterday, ZigZag Whitsundays said it had suspended all tours after the attack.
“Our thoughts are with them, their families and the other guests on the tour,” the post said. “We are working with authorities to assist in any way we can.
“We will work closely with authorities regarding our upcoming tours.”
The two men attacked yesterday have spent time travelling to popular tourist destinations around Australia.
Mr Raddon snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef only four days ago, before visiting Millaa Millaa Falls in the Tablelands region, his social media accounts show.
The vehicle engineering technical specialist from Southampton, in the south of the UK, is believed to have lived in Melbourne for the past nine months.
Mr Maggs, who lives only a couple of towns over from his fellow traveller, is a gas engineer from Plymouth, according to his Facebook account.
The avid Manchester United fan appears to have travelled the world for the past year, with pictures uploaded from Vietnam, Cambodia and Bali.
Tourism Whitsundays and Whitsunday Regional Council offered counselling to passengers and crew on the boat.
“Our first thoughts are with the two people involved in the incident and their welfare, as well as the other passengers and crew on the boat,” a Tourism Whitsundays spokeswoman said.
“Immediate counselling support was arranged for the passengers and crew, their welfare is also our priority.”
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