Kai McKenzie: Australian loses leg but promises return to surfing

A surfer whose severed leg was bitten off by a shark and washed up on an Australian beach has confirmed that the leg was not sewn back on.

Kai McKenzie was surfing near Port Macquarie in New South Wales (NSW) last Tuesday when he was attacked by what he describes as “the biggest shark I have ever seen”.

The 23-year-old managed to get to the shore over a wave, where he was helped by a passerby who improvised a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

His leg was washed ashore shortly afterwards and was placed on ice by locals before being taken to hospital, where a team of doctors hoped it could be saved through surgery.

But on Monday, almost a week after the attack, Mr McKenzie posted a picture of himself in hospital and an update on social media.

“Did you notice something is missing? Haha,” was the caption of the post.

In an earlier Instagram post, he described the “crazy shark attack” in detail and said the outpouring of public support “meant the world” to him.

“Being here…holding my beautiful Eve and my family means the world to me,” he wrote.

He also thanked the public for donations received on a GoFundMe page set up to help him with medical bills, which has raised over 165,000 Australian dollars (US$108,000; £84,000).

“I’ll be back in the water in no time!” he added.

A spokesman for the local health authority where Mr McKenzie is being treated declined to comment on whether surgical re-attachment had been attempted for reasons of patient protection.

Authorities said Mr McKenzie, a sponsored surfer, was bitten by a 10-foot-long great white shark and owes his life to an off-duty police officer who used a dog leash to apply a tourniquet to the injured leg.

Mr McKenzie was taken to a local hospital and then flown to a major trauma centre in Newcastle, around 200 kilometres away. His severed leg also had to survive the long journey.

The enthusiastic surfer had only recently returned to the water after suffering a serious neck injury that forced him to take a break from sport.

In a statement Thursday, the McKenzie family thanked all “medical personnel… all bystanders and first responders” who worked to save the surfer’s life.

Although Australia has more shark attacks than any other country (except the United States), fatal attacks are relatively rare.