ANIMAL ATTACK FILES
Special Report
forwarded by AAF Correspondent: John W. Grooms, Jr.
From the Associated Press (Washington Post)
| Shark Attacks Surfer
in Australia
Tuesday, February 23, 1999; 10:53 p.m. EST |
| SYDNEY, Australia
(AP) -- A surfer in Australia fought off a shark that knocked him off his
board and latched onto his arm, authorities said Wednesday.
The shark bit a chunk from the surfboard and put the man's entire left hand in its mouth, an ambulance spokeswoman said. But the 35-year-old surfer fought off the shark and swam ashore off Scotts Head, about 250 miles north of Sydney. Beachgoers took him to the a nearby hospital. He was treated for severed tendons and deep lacerations to his left forearm, said the ambulance spokeswoman, who was speaking on condition of anonymity. The surfer's father asked that his name and other details about his condition not be released, a hospital spokesman said. © Copyright 1999 The Associated Press |