Man attacked by a shark at Ballina

UPDATE: NSW bodyboarder Mathew Lee has been rushed to hospital after being attacked by a 4m shark on the state’s north coast.

Social media image of Ballina shark attack victim, Mathew Lee. Picture: Suplied

FRIENDS and family have rallied around a 32-year-old Ballina man who is fighting for life after being attacked by a four metre shark.

It’s believed Mathew Lee lost his legs in the attack on the NSW coast this morning while bodyboarding at the North Wall near Ballina. He is now at Gold Coast University Hospital.

Friend Adrian Price said “stay strong Lee Lee, all your friends and family are praying for you.”

Another friend Andrew Bremner said Mr Lee surfed nearly every day at the popular spot.

“Sometimes he takes his dog with him and then he would come back with a few mates at lunch time and they would just chill,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Ballina shark attack victim Mathew Lee.

Ballina shark attack victim Mathew Lee.

Mr Lee had been bodyboarding when he was bitten on both legs. Two friends helped pull him to shore, where he received emergency treatment is fighting for life.

It is believed he suffered significant blood loss and is being flown to the hospital for treatment.

A shark has been seen from the air, local newspaper the Northern Star reports.

This large shark was spotted off the coast of Ballina after the attack. Picture: Channel 7

Retiree Allan Everson, who witnessed the man being pulled ashore, told the Bulletinthat the injuries were severe.

“I didn’t want to look more than I had to because they were very damaged,” he said.

“Luckily he was wearing a full length wetsuit which kept everything together.”

Police and the local council are liaising with the Australian Life Guards Service about which beaches should be closed in the area, a spokeswoman from Surf Life Saving NSW said.

The attack occurred near the Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Lifesaving Club at East Ballina, theDaily Telegraphreports.

The last fatal shark attack in the area was on February 9, when Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara, 41, was killed at Shelly Beach in a horrifying incident live streamed over the internet.

Mr Nakahara lost both his legs in the attack and died from blood loss.

Shark attack victim Tadashi Nakahara died in February.

Coastalwatch, which has surf cameras trained on the beach, confirmed the attack had been captured on camera 150 metres away and streamed in real-time.

There have been eight shark attacks on the NSW north coast since April last year, three of them fatal.

Ballina locals say shark numbers have increased in recent years but are divided over whether a shark cull is the solution.

More to come ...

Lighthouse Beach, Ballina. Picture: Dave Hunt

Beaches may be closed a s result of the attack.