Ballina teenager attacked by shark yesterday is itching to surf again
COOPER Allen thought the shark that came up behind him was a friend playing a cruel trick before he turned to see a four metre great white gnawing at his leg, according to mate Harrison Fettell.
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COOPER Allen thought the shark that came up behind him was a friend playing a cruel trick before he turned to see a four metre great white gnawing at his leg, according to mate Harrison Fettell.
“He thought it was one of the boys behind him,” the Xavier Catholic Collage student said of yesterday’s attack.
After visiting his 17-year-old mate Harrison was confident he would be back in the water once the stitches in his leg heal.
“He was in a lot of shock (at the time),” he said.
“Yeah he’ll be back in the water.”
Another of Cooper’s mates, Jordan Gregor, said it was “surreal” seeing him happily laying in a hospital bed.
“It’s kind of surreal seeing one of your mates like that,” he said.
He claimed the apex predator tangled itself in Cooper’s leg rope.
“He said he felt something tugging at his leg rope,” the teenager said.
Jordan said the friends who helped paddle him into shore were pretty ballsy.
“They said the shark was chasing them back to shore,” he said.
“Not too many people would be live after being attacked by a four metre shark.”
Lismore Base Hospital staff said Allen is expected to be able to return home on Thursday.
EARLIER
TEENAGER Cooper Allen, who fought off a 4m great white shark yesterday, is in his hospital bed itching to get back in the surf, mates say.
The 17-year-old’s legs were mauled by a man-eating monster at Lighthouse Beach, Ballina, yesterday while he was surfing with a dozen friends, as he does every morning.
Fresh out of high school, Cooper, who lives across the road from the beach, survived but needed a number of stitches across four large gashes on his leg.
Cooper was a friend of Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara, who was killed by a shark in February 2015 at Shelly Beach, and is well known in the Ballina community as a “surfing mad” fearless larrikin.
Friends yesterday told the Bulletin Cooper was texting them from hospital, talking about how great the surfing conditions were.
“He’ll be fine,” a school friend, who declined to be named, said.
“When you love surfing as much as he does, nothing will ever stop you from doing it,” he said.
“I think he has a lot of adrenalin right now and it might sink in a bit later. He was so calm at the beach it was a joke.”
His rescuers, Dave Mortimer and Gabe Francis, can testify to that.
The lifeguards were only just setting up the flags about 8.45am when they noticed a surfer throwing his two hands up in the air, which is the evacuation signal.
The pair, not knowing it was a shark attack, jumped straight into fight mode. Mr Francis raced up the beach to get the first-aid kit while Mr Mortimer sprinted toward the surfers to assist whoever was in trouble.
It was only when Mr Mortimer saw the trail of blood Cooper was leaving as he was paddled into shore that he realised it was a shark attack.
“They applied pressure on the wounds and kept that pressure on before placing him on a spinal board and taking him up the beach,” lifeguard boss Scott McCartney said.
“They looked after him and treated him until paramedics arrived not long after.
“They said Cooper was really calm and did so well considering what had just happened to him.
“He wasn’t in shock at all — he just accepted that he’d just been bitten by a shark.”
Mr McCartney said it was the rescuers’ first shark rescue operation but that they were doing fine.
“They’re running on adrenalin right now,” he said.
“It’s amazing how naturally your training just comes to you in situations like that.
“Everyone that helped needs to be commended for their incredible work,” he said.
Cooper’s father Ned Allen declined to comment.
Inspector of Ambulance service NSW Glen Eadie spoke to Cooper before the victim left the beach.
Cooper told him he had been bumped off his board and initially thought one of his friends was playing a prank.
“We just had a general conversation and he thought one of his mates was having a joke with him,” Mr Eadie said.
“He quickly realised that wasn’t the case.
“He’s a very lucky boy.”
Witnesses said the teen’s first words after the attack were: “Don’t tell mum yet.”
Ballina Mayor David Wright struggled to muster up the words yesterday, saying he felt ill and discouraged.
“I feel sick to my stomach, to be honest,” he said.
“I’m thankful he is OK.”
Cooper was taken to Lismore Base Hospital in a stable condition and remained overnight.
Family and friends trickled in across the afternoon to visit but declined to comment.
SHARK ATTACKS AND RESPONSES IN NORTHERN NSW:
2008
April 8, Ballina (Lighthouse Beach): Peter Edmonds, 16, from Wollongbar is killed by a shark while bodyboarding off Ballina’s Lighthouse Beach.
2014
September 9, Byron Bay (Main Beach): British expat Paul Wilcox, 50, Paul Wilcox, 50, killed by a shark when he was bitten on the leg at Clarkes Beach about 10.45am
2015
February 8, Ballina (Seven Mile Beach): White pointer attacks surfer Jabez Reitman, 35, about 60m from shore. Chunk of flesh ripped from his back and lacerations to hip.
February 9, Ballina (Shelly Beach): Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara dies after 4m great white severs both legs in an attack close to shore.
July 1, Yamba (Flat Rock): Great white severs nerves and tendons in male surfer’s hand after attacking as he paddled out through the breakers.
July 2, Ballina (Lighthouse Beach): 32-year-old bodyboarder Mathew Lee mauled by 4m great white. Serious injuries to both his legs but both limbs saved in emergency surgery.
July 31, Evans Head (Main Beach): Surfer Craig Ison, 52, attacked by a white pointer during morning surf, suffering serious wounds to his leg and arm.
August 22, Port Macquarie (Lighthouse Beach): Bodyboarder Dale Carr loses 2.5 litres of blood after being mauled by 3m great white about 150m from shore.
September 4, Forster (Black Head Beach): White pointer mauls surf-skier David Quinlivan, 65, as he paddles offshore. Serious wounds to his left ankle.
October 25, Sydney (Coogee Beach): Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair announces “world-first” $16 million, five-year shark strategy on behalf of the NSW Government.
November 10, Ballina (Lighthouse Beach): Champion junior surfer Sam Morgan, 20, seriously injured after 3m bull shark mauls his left thigh.
2016:
June 1, Tweed Heads: Gold Coast fisherman fears another attack in the region within weeks after handing in his shark fishing licence.
August 12, Ballina (Lighthouse Beach): The Baird Government drops its $500,000 trial shark barrier at Lighthouse Beach. Installation had been stalled since March due to rough conditions.
September 14, Lennox Head (Seven Mile Beach): The Lennox Head trial barrier of a slightly different design was declared unworkable due to rough conditions.
September 26, Ballina (Lighthouse Beach): Cooper Allen, 17, surfer rushed to hospital with serious leg wounds after being mauled shortly before 9am.
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