Surfer paddled back to shore minutes after shark had bitten off both of his arms and collapsed in front of horrified girlfriend By Sally Lee and Daniel Mills and Daniel Piotrowski for Daily Mail Australia and Aap and Richard Shears for MailOnline 03:00 03 Oct 2014, updated 07:03 03 Oct 2014 +11 Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Click to open Pinterest Google Plus Reddit Stumble Upon Digg it LinkedIn Email Click to close 17 shares 9 comments Sean Pollard made it back to the beach himself after the frenzied attack He stood up in the shallows, revealing the full extent of his injuries, before slumping to the ground His girlfriend Claire Oakford watched it unfold as she sunned herself on the beach Paramedics received an emergency call saying he lost one arm below the elbow and the other hand A rescuer on the scene has described on radio how an off-duty paramedic saved Mr Pollards life Pollard, believed to be from Bunbury, is recovering in a Perth Hospital The attack happened at Kelpids Beach in Wylie Bay near Esperance Fisheries officials have caught two great white sharks which could be responsible for the attack Surfer Sean Pollard managed to paddle ashore after a shark ripped off both of his hands, and stumbled through the shallows towards his horrified girlfriend before collapsing on the beach, it emerged on Friday. Claire Oakford described the terrifying moment Mr Pollard came out of the surf as she lay on the sand at Kelpids Beach, an isolated area at Wylie Bay near the West Australian town of Esperance, about 11am Thursday. Mr Pollard, 23, is in a critical condition in a Perth hospital after having one arm severed below the elbow and the other hand torn off, as well as suffering leg injuries. Scroll down for video +11 Shark victim Sean Pollard, 23, pictured with his girlfriend Claire Oakford, who was reportedly on the beach when the attack happened +11 Mr Pollard lost parts of both arms in the attack near Esperance, Western Australia Officials caught two great white sharks in the hours after the attack and were preparing to cut them open to try to determine if one - or both - of them was responsible for the attack. Ms Oakford told a friend - Kurd Cadman - before flying out to Perth on Thursday about the terrifying ordeal she witnessed. Mr Cadman said she had been lying on the beach enjoying the couples Esperance holiday when she quickly realised something was horribly wrong as he emerged from the surf. She rushed to his side while several others, including an off-duty paramedic, attended to his wounds. The paramedic attached a tourniquet to his limbs and wrapped them in towels, stemming the flow of blood until an ambulance arrived. A rescuer on scene later told a local radio station that the quick-thinking skills of the paramedic saved the young surfers life. The man, who identified himself as Robbie, said he had been planning to give his nephew a surfing lesson when Mr Pollard collapsed about 20 metres out and two men dragged him ashore. Hes obviously swum about 100 metres with those injuries ... it was probably the bravest thing Ive ever seen, he told Fairfax radio. He added that if it had not been for the off-duty paramedic, Mr Pollard may not have survived. Two guys raced out and grabbed him, he said. There was a paramedic by them. I think her husband was there surfing. She probably saved his life. An Esperance police officer spoke to Ms Oakford from her partners hospital bed on Friday morning, where he said the pair were grateful to everyone who helped. He is in a stable condition in the trauma ward at Royal Perth Hospital, Senior Sergeant Richard Moore told The West Australian. He has a very positive attitude and he and his partner Claire have thanked the community and the emergency services for their assistance yesterday. +11 Mr Pollard, a dedicated surfer, pictured dropping in to big wave in Indonesia Two sharks destroyed after surfer attacked in Western Australia +11 Mr Pollard was flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctor Service within hours of the attack on Thursday Esperance shark attack victim airlifted to hospital Mr Pollards football club, the South Bunbury Football Club, paid tribute to him in a Facebook post and pledged their support for his family. The club wrote on its Facebook on Thursday afternoon: Today a young man was attacked by a shark in Esperance. Unfortunately the young man is one of our own in Sean Pollard. Our thoughts are with Polly and his family from everyone at South Bunbury Football Club. We are with you all the way mate, the post continued. The club is playing in its grand final this weekend and Mr Kelly said there was no doubt the club would rally around Mr Pollard. Bunbury deputy mayor Brendan Kelly - himself a surfer - said 99.9 per cent of patrolled or popular beaches along the south east coastline were safe, however isolated surf spots are a haven for sharks. Theres a term over here called sharky, he said. If the water looks dark, the sky is grey and overcast, and there is generally good surf, then thats when there is going to be sharks about. He said surfers know the risks and people should take the same precautions in WA surf as people visiting billabongs in Northern Territory would with crocodiles. Most of the surfers I know acknowledge that. +11 Incident: The attack occurred in scenic Wylie Bay, on Western Australias south coast +11 Wylie Bay is located around 8km east of Esperance, on WAs south coast +11 Attack: WA Police said the man came under attack by a shark near Esperance SHARK ATTACKS OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS The earliest recorded Australian shark attack was on an indigenous female (fatal) on the NSW north coast in 1791. * NSW - 203 attacks, 48 fatal, last fatality Byron Bay 2014 * QLD - 208 attacks, 67 fatal, last fatality Palm Island 2011 * WA - 88 attacks*, 19 fatal, last fatality Dawesville Cut 2014 * SA - 44 attacks, 17 fatal, last fatality Coffin Bay 2011 * VIC - 33 attacks, 4 fatal, last fatality Mornington Peninsula 1987 * TAS - 11 attacks, 2 fatal, last fatality Tenth Island 1993 * NT - 11 attacks, 2 fatal, last fatality Bathurst Island 1938 TOTAL - 599 cases, 159 fatal *This list includes the attack on October 2 near Esperance in Western Australia Source: AAP, Taronga Conservation Society websit WA Premier Colin Barnett said it was necessary to kill the two white pointers because they posed an imminent threat to public safety. The threat is there and sadly (Thursday) just demonstrated how likely a shark attack can happen, Mr Barnett said. Perth beaches are probably as safe as we can reasonably make them (but) the south west and the southern coastline is a different matter. The states Fisheries Department responded to the attack by catching and killing two white pointers on drumlines - one measuring up to 4.5 metres and the other three metres. It was the first time white pointers - a protected species - had been killed by WA officials. Fisheries shark response unit manager Lisa Clack defended the move amid reports Mr Pollard might have been mauled by two bronze whalers, saying it was more likely a white pointer was responsible. Advice from our shark scientists indicated that basically given the nature of the injuries and the location it occurred, its not likely that the species was a bronze whaler, she told Fairfax radio. Ms Clack said the two captured sharks would be transported to Perth and dissected and examined, although sharks often disgorge stomach contents so their role might never be confirmed. Drumlines have not been redeployed but beaches from Wylie Bay to Cape Le Grand remain closed. Man loses hand and arm to shark in Australian beach attack +11 It is believed the girlfriend of Sean Pollard is by his side at hospital +11 A spokeswoman for the WA Department of Fisheries said a white shark has been caught near Wylie Bay, at Kelpids Beach, about six kilometres from Esperance Man loses both arms in shark attack in Western Australia +11 Shark cull: This tiger shark was caught in the Margaret River region, WA, as part of the state governments controversial catch and kill program in February.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 06:46:26 +0000
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