Toby Begg returns to the ocean to honour fellow shark attack victim Zac Young in paddle-out

It’s been three months since Toby Begg barely survived a serious shark attack, but on Saturday he’ll head back into the water for the first time to honour another young surfer who wasn’t so lucky.

Just three months after a shark attack left him with catastrophic leg injuries, keen surfer Toby Begg is heading back into the water for the first time on Saturday.

The popular Port Macquarie man, who visited the surfing museum this week, was attacked by a 4m great white shark at Watonga Rocks, near Port Macquarie, on August 25.

Mr Begg, 44, lost his lower right leg and has limited use of his left leg after having undergone multiple surgeries and a lengthy stay in hospital.

The father of two will be entering the ocean on Saturday for the first time since the accident to support the world record paddle-out event in honour of shark attack victim Zac Young.

Zac died 10 years ago after being mauled while surfing near Coffs Harbour. His dad Kevin Young has ­organised the paddle-out at Port Macquarie and is filming a documentary in honour of his son titled Forever Young.

Toby Begg was attacked by a great white shark while surfing in August.

The remains of Mr Begg’s board after the attack. Picture: Seven News

Meanwhile, the Begg family has been overwhelmed by the support and generosity of his community and strangers, who have raised almost $100,000.

In a social media post promoting the fundraiser, the off-duty doctor who helped save his life, Kurt Durbridge, recalled the “certain uneasiness” beginning to build in his stomach when he spotted something wasn’t quite right out in the water: “As I reach the knee-high water, I can see a man who is as white as a ghost with horrific injuries and a massive bloody laceration to his left thigh and a traumatic amputation of his right foot.”

Mr Begg and hundreds of others will attempt a world record paddle-out in memory of Zac Young, who was killed by a shark 10 years ago. Picture: Supplied

With another emergency medicine colleague who had also been out surfing, they dragged Mr Begg to the sand and applied a leg rope tourniquet.

“This whole scene has been so chaotic I’m not even sure if this man is alive or dead,” he ­recalled.

“As I look down at him, I can see he’s breathing, he’s moving his arms, but I can’t feel a radial pulse, he has a central pulse, his eyes then open — he’s alive,” Dr Durbridge said.

“I tell him: ‘My name is Kurt, I’m an emergency doctor, we are going to look after you, OK? What’s your name?’

“He replied: ‘Toby’, much to my great relief and joy.

“This joy soon turns to anxiety and dread – I know what we need to save this man’s life; blood products and an operating theatre to control the bleeding but I have no way to expedite this, we must wait for the ambulance to arrive.”

Mr Begg is set to join hundreds in the water on Saturday.

Organisers of the paddle-out hope to have 682 people holding hands in a huge circle for 60 seconds to beat the current record.

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