Great white fear as man fights for life
A BODYBOARDER is fighting for his life after being mauled by a suspected great white shark at a beach in NSW’s north.
Matthew Lee ( pictured right) sustained severe leg injuries in the attack at Lighthouse Beach, near Ballina, and was flown to a Gold Coast hospital.
His friends are reported to have pulled 32- year- old Mr Lee from the water about 10am yesterday, using leg ropes to stop the bleeding, as locals tried to help.
The owner of Lighthouse
I looked
down the beach and
saw them working on a bloke, it was hell
Beach Cafe said locals banded together to help the man.
“I looked down the beach, and saw them working on a bloke, it was hell . . . there’s lots of people down here,” she said.
Police believe the shark is a great white, about four metres long.
Beaches in the region will remain closed for at least 24 hours but a 300- strong junior surf competition at Lennox Head, 10km north, is expected to go ahead today.
Ballina Mayor David Wright said the Oz Grom contest would proceed as planned if air and sea searches did not find the shark at first light. Boats, jetskis and helicopters searched for the shark yesterday after reports it was spotted near the scene of the attack.
He said about 30 surfers remained in the Ballina waters after dark yesterday despite the warning signs. “Surfers will surf,” he said. In February, a great white shark tore the legs off 41year- old surfer Tadashi Nakaharaa in a fatal attack at the neighbouring Shelly Beach.
In 2008 a 16- year- old boy was fatally attacked by a shark while bodyboarding at Lighthouse Beach.