A surfer says he feels “lucky” not to have been more badly injured when a dream wave-catching adventure in Australia turned into a shark attack nightmare.
Alejo Santinaque, 20, was sitting on his board, waiting for a wave at Red Cliff Beach, on the north coast of NSW, when he felt a “hard hit and a strong pull” on his foot about 4.45pm on May 30.
The stunned Uruguay national said he kicked out at the shark as hard as he could to make it let go, but that caused him to fall into the water.
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Santinaque, who was in the surf for a final afternoon session alone, said the shark then got “mixed up” in his leg rope, causing it to break away from his board.
“I was swimming towards the shore as fast as I could, looking around, worried about a second attack,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
The South American scooped up his board on the way to shore, but it took up to three minutes to make it back to the beach because the swell had died down and there were no waves to push him to safety.
He said his only focus was getting out of the water.
“I almost didn’t feel pain (in my foot). I even thought that (the shark) didn’t damage me,” Santinaque said.
“Fortunately I didn’t feel nervous at all.
“It was like a new feeling, just looking at the best way of surviving and defending myself for a second attack.”
Alejo Santinaque is recovering after being attacked by a shark. Credit: Alejo Santinaque Once back on solid ground he realised his foot had been opened up and he shouted to his pals, who applied a tourniquet before paramedics arrived.
“After that I immediately thought and told my friends how lucky I was and also couldn’t believe it,” he said.
The shark tore through skin and muscle on his right foot, rupturing a tendon and damaging others.
But it missed any major arteries and Santinaque says: “I know I got off lightly”.
He was taken by ambulance to hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.
A shark biologist determined that a wobbegong is likely responsible “based on images of the bite wound”, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development told 7NEWS.com.au.
These sharks, which can reach 3m in length and weigh over 70kg depending on species, are not generally considered dangerous to humans but can “become aggressive if disturbed”.
A grandfather previously detailed how he was bitten on the leg by one while snorkelling in WA’s South West.
“All of a sudden something hit me, and hit my leg hard, and I thought, ‘What is that?’” he said.
“I was very frightened. I really didn’t know what to do. It was very instantaneous.”
Alejo Santinaque is recovering after being attacked by a shark. Credit: Alejo Santinaque Santinaque has not ruled out that he was attacked by a bull shark based on the glimpse of the tail that he got when he was bitten, another witness from the cliff top, conditions on the day and information he received on their feeding habits.
He said other recent shark attacks, including a fatal mauling near Albany in WA at the weekend, had left him feeling “f***ing lucky”.
“It’s incredible. I didn’t even lose a finger. I can’t believe how lucky I was,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
The surfer, who said it had been his dream to travel Australia and tackle its famous breaks, will be on crutches for up to two months.
He has booked surfing trips to Fiji and Indonesia in about 10 weeks, but wants to back in the water before then.
“As soon as I can — I hope it’s Red Cliff first,” he said, not worried about returning to the beach where he was injured.
He said he does not “hold any resentment towards the shark”, given he entered its environment and his knowledge that the “risk is always there”.