Surgery Follows Attack By Shark

Newcastle Herald

Monday February 5, 2007

A SURFER is in a stable condition after undergoing surgery on his left leg following a shark attack on the NSW Far North Coast.

Matthew McIntosh is expected to make a full recovery after a shark bit his lower left leg and foot while he was paddling his boogie board off Shelly Beach, near Ballina, on Saturday.

A spokesman for the North Coast Area Health Service said Mr McIntosh, 26, is under heavy sedation in Lismore Base Hospital but is expected to retain complete use of his leg and foot following microsurgery yesterday.

Mr McIntosh's friend Craig Harris was surfing nearby and helped him to safety after the attack.

"I heard him scream, saw a bit of blood in the water and I knew I had to try to help him as much as I could. I got him to shore. Thank God he's alright," Mr Harris told the Nine Network.

The attack follows an abalone diver's escape from a great white shark two weeks ago on the NSW South Coast.

Two of Perth's main beaches were closed yesterday after a shark was seen close to swimmers.

Surf lifesavers at Cottesloe Beach noticed the roughly two-metre-long shark and began following it in a surf rescue boat as it swam south.

Leighton Beach, about two kilometres south, was also closed.

AAP