By Kayla Olaya
A teenage boy has sustained serious injuries after being bitten by a shark while swimming at a popular beach on the NSW north coast.
Emergency services were called to Cabarita Beach, located between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, at 3.50pm on Sunday after reports the boy had been attacked.
He sustained serious injuries to his upper-right arm, wrist and right leg and was assisted by surfers, including an off-duty paramedic who applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, until emergency services reached the scene.
The boy was airlifted to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.
“We believe he was swimming at the time,” NSW paramedic Ben Mumford told Nine News. “There were a few brave people in the water that helped him out.”
In a video posted to Instagram, a group of surfers carries the boy up the beach on a surfboard used as a stretcher.
Cabarita Beach will remain closed for the next 24 hours.
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