Julian McLennan, 16, was browsing on the Previous Bar close to Taree on the mid-north coast when the assault occurred on Christmas Day at round 4.30pm.
“I used to be sitting within the again, browsing, strolling on a wave, and I felt like somebody was grabbing me,” McLennan advised 9News.
“I look to the correct and see an enormous fin protruding of the water, just like the physique of a shark.
“I began paddling. I do not know if my legs are nonetheless there and I am simply taking a look at Alex, feeling scared,” he recollects.
Julian instantly screamed that he had been bitten in entrance of his colleague Alex Tobin, who was additionally within the water however nearer to shore.
“I simply noticed a large splash come out of nowhere,” Tobin advised 9News.
“I ran to the seaside and grabbed my shirt so he may wrap it round his leg to cease the bleeding.”
Pal Will Anderson was browsing along with his mates however determined to go out early.
He was within the parking zone when he acquired the decision.
“At first, I did not imagine him,” Anderson advised 9News.
“I used to be pondering, ‘Oh yeah,’ however no, simply the panic in his voice set off alarm bells in my head.”
He took all of them to the hospital, deciding to not await the ambulance.
“I assumed it was going to take a very long time for the ambulance to get there, and since I did not know the way severe the sting was, I simply wished to be on the secure facet and transfer as shortly as doable,” Anderson mentioned.
The bloody pictures clearly present the teenager’s leg pockmarked with deep tooth marks.
The chunk was only some centimeters from McLennan’s femoral artery, and people few centimeters are the distinction between life and nearly sure demise.
The 16-year-old feels fortunate that his board withstood many of the power of the sting.
“If I did not have the fin on my surfboard, it most likely would have swallowed my leg.”
“I used to be simply hoping he would not come again after he left.”
Julian’s shocked mom has nothing however reward for his quick-thinking teammates.
“They did what they needed to do,” mom Nicole Gore-Linsky advised 9News.
“They did not panic. They helped their pal. That is what actual mates are.”
Julian says he’ll keep out of the water for now, however not ceaselessly.
“I am nonetheless slightly shocked, however you already know, we’ll get there.”
