‘Blood everywhere’: Teen fought off shark as rescuers recall horror scenes at Cabarita Beach
Dramatic new footage has captured the moment a 16-year-old boy was mauled by a shark at Cabarita Beach, as rescuers describe confronting scenes and the teen’s brave effort to fight off the predator.
NSW
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Wild vision has captured the moment a 16-year-old boy was attacked by a shark while swimming at Cabarita Beach on the NSW north coast.
The chilling footage, filmed from the beach’s south headland, shows the teen swimming just metres from a group of surfers before a large dorsal fin appears behind him.
Seconds later, the boy is dragged underwater in a violent encounter with the predator.
One of the first to help was 39-year-old Thiago Collel, a volunteer surf lifesaver originally from Brazil, who assisted in stabilising the boy after he was pulled from the water.
“There was blood everywhere — we were all covered in it,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“His bicep was destroyed. You could see the muscle and bone.”
Mr Collel said the teenager remained conscious and explained how he fought back against the shark.
“He told me he kicked and punched it to get away,” he said.
“I just focused on keeping him calm. There wasn’t time to be scared — I just knew I had to help.”
Cabarita Beach remains closed following the attack on the teenager who suffered injuries to his upper right arm, wrist and leg on Sunday.
Surfers and bystanders, including off-duty paramedics, rushed to help the teenager, pulling him from the water and applying a tourniquet to stem the bleeding before emergency services arrived.
Intensive Care Paramedic Ben Mumford praised the actions of those first on the scene.
“We believe he was swimming at the time,” he said.
“There were especially brave people in the water that helped him out of the water, and there were also a couple of off-duty paramedics on scene who assisted him until we arrived.”
Earlier footage posted online shows the shark following the group into shallow water as they drag the boy toward shore.
At one point, the animal appears to swim within metres of the beach in knee-deep water.
Shocked beachgoers looked on as the group brought the injured teen to safety.
The boy remains in hospital in a stable condition.
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Originally published as ‘Blood everywhere’: Teen fought off shark as rescuers recall horror scenes at Cabarita Beach
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