Man attacked by shark at Mona Vale
Clementine Cuneo
The Daily Telegraph
February 11, 2010
A MAN surfing with his son has been attacked by a shark who tried to drag him from some rocks at Mona Vale this morning.
The man was bitten on the leg during his morning surf just after 8am and still has at least one tooth embedded under his skin.
The 46-year-old man, Paul Welsh was surfing with his 10-year-old son, close to shore, when the 2m shark attacked him in shallow waters.
He sustained deep lacerations to his legs. He has one, possibly two shark’s teeth still in his leg.
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“I was pushing my son on to waves and it just belted me from behind,’’ Mr Welsh said.
“I grabbed on to the pinnacle of a rock and held on as it tried to drag me out.... and I won.’’
Witness Surf Watch's Michael Brown who was also swimming with his son described the attack as horrifying and “surreal”.
“I saw thrashing in the water, and the shark’s tail sticking out and then I saw the guy holding onto a rock,” Mr Brown said.
“The shark was still latched onto his leg and trying to drag him off it.”
Mr Brown said if the surfer had not been so close to the rocks, the attack could have been a lot worse or even fatal.
“This thing (the shark) has just come from underneath and latched on…he was just lucky to be near the rocks so he could hold on for dear life,” Mr Brown said.
As the shark let go, Mr Brown said the surfer scarpered onto the rocks, where witnesses helped him and wrapped his wound.
The man’s wife rushed him to hospital for treatment.
Mr Brown said the shark was about 2 metres long and he believed it was a juvenile Great White.
“The way he was hit, I’m pretty sure it was a Great White,” he said.
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