Shark attack in Port Macquarie: Severed leg of surfer Kai McKenzie washed up on the beach

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The severed leg of a 23-year-old Australian surfer who was attacked by a great white shark off the mid-north coast of New South Wales has washed up on the beach, police said.

Kai McKenzie was attacked by a shark at North Shore Beach in Port Macquarie at around 11am local time on Tuesday morning and remained in critical condition. The surfer managed to catch a wave to shore, where passersby helped him receive treatment after the attack.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, an off-duty police officer walking his dog on the beach used the dog’s leash as a tourniquet around his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding before paramedics arrived on the scene.

Mr McKenzie was taken to Macquarie Base Hospital and later flown to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, where his condition was stable but critical.

The severed leg that washed up on the beach was put on ice and taken to a hospital about 200 kilometers from the site of the attack, but doctors will examine whether the leg can be sewn back on.

Shark biologists from the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development reviewed photographs of the incident and identified the shark as a great white shark measuring approximately 3 m in length. Sydney Morning Herald.

On Tuesday, Port Macquarie Hastings lifeguards said on social media that beach closures following Tuesday’s incident had now been lifted.

Lauren Mac, a friend and neighbor of Mr McKenzie, started a GoFundMe campaign to support the surfer. Ms Mac was contacted by the Daily Telegraph that the surfer’s family and friends were “devastated.”

“This is another blow after Kai only recently returned to the water following his broken neck,” she told the outlet.

“His parents are shocked and devastated. I spoke to them yesterday after they saw Kai in the hospital. They are such a close-knit family.”

She added: “Kai and all his mates have a heart of gold. He’s the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back.”

“He saw the shark,” Kirran Mowbray, a paramedic from New South Wales, was quoted as saying by 10 news first.

“He was able to fight back. He was very brave. He turned around and made it to the shore with a wave.”

“The only person who saw the shark was the young man himself. He was very calm. He could talk to us. He was completely at peace with himself,” he added.

Pictures from the scene showed a piece of McKenzie’s surfboard with a piece of the tail bitten off by the shark. McKenzie is a team rider for Rage, the purple surf grip and hardware brand, according to surfer.