Sydney Harbour shark victim Lauren O’Neill might have lost her leg

Sydney Harbour shark attack victim Lauren O’Neill came close to losing her entire leg before doctors performed a marathon surgery through the night to save her limb, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Sydney Harbour shark attack victim Lauren O’Neill came close to losing her entire leg before doctors performed a marathon surgery through the night to save her limb, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Extra surgeons were enlisted to help when staff at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney’s east received a call that paramedics were en route with a critically ill patient suffering from a vicious shark bite to her leg on Monday evening.

Ms O’Neill, 29, a keen swimmer and kayaker, had been taking an evening dip in the Harbour after work, something she regularly did, when a suspected bull shark took hold soon after 7.40pm.

The marine predator ripped open the young microbiologist’s leg beneath her knee and gnawed through the bone.

Ms O’Neill lost litres of blood in the water as she desperately paddled to the safety of a ladder in Elizabeth Bay and called for help.

Elizabeth Bay shark attack victim Lauren O'Neill.

Neighbours rushed to help shark attack victim Lauren O’Neill on Monday evening. Picture: Sky News

Neighbours said on Tuesday said Ms O’Neill was regularly seen swimming in the area, often around boats moored more than 50m out from the shore.

She lives in an apartment on Billyard Ave that shares an ocean pool equipped with a shark net.

Lauren suffered serious leg injuries. Picture: On Scene Bondi

At the time she was heard calling for help, she had been in the water outside the netted pool.

A paramedic, who was one of the first emergency personnel to arrive on the scene in Billyard Ave, said he took one look at Ms O’Neill’s leg and expected the worst.

“You see all sorts of injuries, but this was pretty intense … gut feel straight up was she’d lose her leg,” he said.

However, last night Ms O’Neill was in a stable ­condition in St Vincent’s intensive care unit after successful surgery to save her leg.

Lauren was bitten by a bull shark in the harbour. Picture: On Scene Bondi

She is expected to remain in the intensive care unit of the hospital for at least a few days.

Ms O’Neill’s mother Petra was positive as she thanked a local veterinary surgeon who sprung to action to help her daughter in that “critical moment” on Monday night.

“It means a lot that the community was there at the critical moment to render assistance, in particular the veterinary nurse … shows what a lovely community you are,” Mrs O’Neill wrote online.

Vet Fiona Crago was settling down for the night when she heard someone screaming “shark attack, shark attack” from the nearby wharf in front of her apartment block.

‘It’s incredible how lucid Lauren was.” said witness Michael Porter. Picture: Richard Dobson

She grabbed some bandages she had close by in the home and together with her partner Georgia and another neighbour Michael Porter, bolted down to the water’s edge and found Ms O’Neill clinging to the jetty ladder, surrounded by blood.

Ms O’Neill was pale, her breathing was laboured and she was in shock. “She said, ‘I’ve been bitten, it was a shark’,” Georgia recounted.

With time critical, Dr Crago lifted the injured woman from the water and immediately began first aid, while Mr Porter called triple-0.

Lauren O’Neill was rushed to hospital in a critical condition. Picture: On Scene Bondi

Dr Crago tied a compression bandage – or a tourniquet – that her wife had coincidentally purchased only days prior, around the gaping wound to stem the bleeding all while keeping Ms O’Neill calm.

“I’m in no way heroic. I just did my job and what I was trained to do,” Dr Crago later told Channel 10.

“I think it is a good reminder to people that they do need to be careful, especially at dawn and dusk.

“I probably will still swim in netted areas, but yes, it was quite shocking and definitely will be a reminder for other people to respect that environment out there.”

Mr Porter said: “Fiona is an absolute hero, I believe she saved Lauren’s life.

“Everyone worked together to make sure she was all right. She (Lauren) was extremely brave. It’s incredible how lucid Lauren was throughout the whole thing.

“And so grateful, she kept thanking us.”

Mr Porter said Ms O’Neill’s injury was “quite graphic”.

“From the knee down was completely open,” he said.

The witness Georgia, described how bystanders helped save Lauren. Picture: On Scene Bondi

Lauren O’Neill is in a stable condition in hospital after she was attacked by a shark in Elizabeth Bay. Picture: OnScene Bondi

NSW Ambulance acting Inspector Brett Simpson said a rescue helicopter was flown to the scene from Bankstown Hospital with urgent blood supplies.

“Our paramedics found her on a private wharf with ­significant lower limb injuries and a large amount of blood loss,” Inspector Simpson said before praising the bystanders for their quick-thinking which helped save Ms O’Neill’s life.

The site of the shark attack. Picture: Facebook/Leeann Gardner

It occurred near a private jetty off Sydney Harbour at Elizabeth Bay. Picture: Facebook/Leeann Gardner

“They did an exceptional job looking after this young lady, as did our paramedics by stabilising her.”

Friends of Ms O’Neill spoke of her being a water lover who was ­always swimming or kayaking and “happiest in water”.

She grew up in the city’s eastern suburbs and is an active member of local surf, swimming and boating organisations.

“It’s a huge shock … we’re just so relieved she’s going to be OK,” one friend said.

“I doubt this will stop her going back in the water.”
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