Shark attack halts surfing competition, The victim, Alejandro Travaglini, 37, was bitten on the leg by a shark off Gracetown in Western Australia on Monday morning.
He managed to paddle back to shore and a rescue helicopter ferried him to hospital.
Surf photographer Peter Jovic told ABC news he had witnessed the attack.
“[I] saw the guy who had been attacked get separated from the [surf] board and then start to paddle for an inside wave, which he managed to body surf all the way in,” he said.
“They got him to shore and started working on him to stem the bleeding.”
“This thing was a big shark and it wanted to eat him,” fellow surfer and witness Adam Kennedy told the Seven Network. “He was literally fighting for his life. He was yelling and punching and he was on the back of this thing.
Travaglini was reported in stable condition and thanked all the other surfers who helped him on the beach.
The attack forced an international surfing competition nearby, the World Surf League’s (WSL) Margaret River Pro 2018, to be put on hold for an hour. But a few hours later, another surfer was attacked by a shark a mile away from the first incident.
WSL officials suspended the competition on Tuesday due to a “deteriorating swell and onshore conditions,” later adding they were monitoring the situation after the shark attacks.
Surfers voiced their fears over the attacks. Joint world champion Italo Ferreira said on Instagram: “Life is worth more! I hope it doesn’t happen to any of us. I don’t feel comfortable training and competing in places like this.”
