A guy bodyboarding at north wall was attacked by a shark,not sure how he is ,only said he was a 32 yr old local.hope goes to his family

The following from the AAP newswire.

A bodyboarder is fighting for his life after being attacked by a shark near Ballina in northern NSW.

The 32-year-old man was bodyboarding with two friends at Lighthouse Beach just after 10am on Thursday morning when he was bitten by a shark, suffering significant injuries to his lower legs.

He is in a critical condition and expected to be airlifted to Gold Coast Hospital. All beaches within Ballina Shire will be closed for the next 24 hours.


Yes Ron54, hope goes out to him and his family.

Further to the earlier report.

Surf lifesavers on jetskis are combing the waters in the northern NSW to find the shark that mauled a bodyboarder, leaving him fighting for his life.

The search comes as media organisations tweeted photos of what appears to be a large shark reportedly spotted near the scene of the attack.

A 32-year-old local man is critically injured in Gold Coast Hospital after being pulled from the water at Lighthouse Beach in Ballina on Thursday morning, suffering
serious injuries to his lower legs.

He was with two mates at the beach at around 10am when he was bitten. Emergency services attended to him on the scene and he was airlifted to hospital in a
critical condition.

The owner of Lighthouse Beach Cafe said locals banded together to help the man. "I looked down the beach, saw them working on a bloke, it was all hell ... there's
lots of people down here," she told AAP.

All beaches within Ballina Shire will be closed for the next 24 hours. Boats, jetskis and helicopters are searching for the shark.

The attack comes the day before Friday's Oz Grom Surfing Competition, where 270 young competitors from the region are set to compete.

Ballina Mayor David Wright said the council will meet later on Thursday with Surf Lifesaving NSW and police about whether the beaches will have to remain closed and what impact that will have on the surf carnival.

"We're not sure but we're going to try and have it... because it's the biggest junior carnival in Australia," he told AAP. "But it's too soon to make a call."

Saw the chopper doing the rounds this morning and thought the worst. Unfortunately its becoming a bit of a regular occurrence around here.
Apparently a bloke named Matthew Lew? : www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/man-attacked-by-a-shark-at-ballina/news-story/c700c77deefaec4f72a0146c2645fc55
Not much to say except to wish him the best of luck.

Sitting here watching the cops trying to get 5 short boarders of the water at 5:15pm dusk this happened at sharpes beach. What!3 klms away from north wall,how unbelievably selfish is that. Bloody great sign in the car park saying " beach closed shark attack" couldn't miss it it's right where you drive in.the poor cops finally gave up and drove off in disgust,these guys,if anything happened would expect others to risk their lives saving them.

There was a 16 year old kid fatally attacked at that very same beach in 2008, it's scary to think it may possibly have been the same shark

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JacobMatan said..
There was a 16 year old kid fatally attacked at that very same beach in 2008, it's scary to think it may possibly have been the same shark

Another board was attacked the next day also. The chance of being the same shark is slim at best. Right next to a river mouth full of Large bull sharks and now with Great Whites swimming up the coast following whales. Multiple large sharks were spotted from the air by patrols so it really could be a number of any of them.

Waters have definitely changed though, so id say its time you boys on the East start to look into products to help keep you safe in the water. Check out Surfsafe from Katana, Dave Smith his product will give you the confidence you need as well as some level of protection

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Waters have definitely changed though, so id say its time you boys on the East start to look into products to help keep you safe in the water. Check out Surfsafe from Katana, Dave Smith his product will give you the confidence you need as well as some level of protection

I'd love to buy some shark protection but it seems a bit scam like to me that they can't make something that attaches to your ankle. If I put one of these devices in all of my boards I'd be up for thousands of dollars......
Disclaimer: I have no idea how the device works so maybe it has to be in the board?

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Ezric said..

Waters have definitely changed though, so id say its time you boys on the East start to look into products to help keep you safe in the water. Check out Surfsafe from Katana, Dave Smith his product will give you the confidence you need as well as some level of protection

I'd love to buy some shark protection but it seems a bit scam like to me that they can't make something that attaches to your ankle. If I put one of these devices in all of my boards I'd be up for thousands of dollars......

i know what your saying...cause once im dead im not paying for my coffin.

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Ron54 said..

im willing to bet there is more than 5 people world wide die of shark attacks.

australia alone would come close to that figure

I is about 5, but in the last years it is tending more towards 10 www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/trends/location/world/

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Ron54 said..

Yep that post shows the inability of most people to interpret statistics. I suppose we should be very wary of getting killed by a hippo when surfing Australian waters.

Just following up on this, some positive news just through the wires.

The bodyboarder who suffered serious injuries after being attacked by a shark on the NSW north coast has woken up in hospital. Mathew Lee was bitten while in the water at Ballina on July 2. The 32-year-old was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition but has since regained consciousness.

"Mat is awake and he's in good spirits," a post to the Mathew Lee support page on Facebook states. "He wanted to let everyone know how grateful he is for the many well wishes and love sent to him. The road to recovery is going to be a long one and he has asked for all to keep sending love and positive thoughts."

A photograph posted on the page shows Mr Lee and his girlfriend lying in a hospital bed smiling.

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SJKJ said..
Just following up on this, some positive news just through the wires.

The bodyboarder who suffered serious injuries after being attacked by a shark on the NSW north coast has woken up in hospital. Mathew Lee was bitten while in the water at Ballina on July 2. The 32-year-old was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition but has since regained consciousness.

"Mat is awake and he's in good spirits," a post to the Mathew Lee support page on Facebook states. "He wanted to let everyone know how grateful he is for the many well wishes and love sent to him. The road to recovery is going to be a long one and he has asked for all to keep sending love and positive thoughts."

A photograph posted on the page shows Mr Lee and his girlfriend lying in a hospital bed smiling.

Thats great news thanks for letting us know

Another follow up on this thread. The following came through on the newswires.

After being mauled by a four-metre great white shark two months ago, NSW bodyboarder Mat Lee could be forgiven for thinking about himself. But he is not that type of guy.
Since the attack near Ballina on the NSW north coast on July 2, the 32-year-old has been recovering from serious leg injuries.
Leaving his wheelchair at home and using crutches, the softly-spoken social worker was welcomed home last Saturday by about 500 supporters at a fundraiser at Ballina's Shaws Bay Hotel.
Almost $20,000 was raised for his rehabilitation, but Mr Lee then donated $5187.50 of it to the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter, which airlifted him to hospital after the shark attack.
The helicopter service, along with two friends who pulled Mr Lee to the beach and the rapid response of off-duty marine rescue officers were all credited with saving his life that morning.
One of his friends, Simon Bruncke, said he wasn't surprised at the turn out on Saturday. "It's a small town, and he's such a nice guy; he is like the fabric of the community," he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Mr Lee thanked his parents and his partner Suzy, who's been by his side since the attack.
"I couldn't have done it without you babe, thank you," he said at the fundraiser.
Mr Lee's attack is one of 14 shark attacks recorded in NSW this year. A panel of experts plan on meeting later this month to discuss measures to prevent attacks in NSW waters.

Not sure about those stats.
WA lost 5 in ten months, 3 yrs ago!
These 5m mothers didn't leave anything.
One was a good friend RIP Ben.

It's the ocean user's that survive that face the scariest conundrum if they still have all their limbs. I can only marvel at their bravery at going back in the water if they choose to do so. BTW everyone of the animals in the graphic barring Jellyfish are culled, slaghtered and eaten .....yes chocolate coated ants. Horse meat is the meat of choice in many European countries as is Venison, Hippos are loved everywhere in Africa for there ability to feed a village. I don't support the culling of sharks because it hasn't affected me. I bet that most (not all) of the people that don't support culling haven't lost a friend or a loved one. Ask me again if one of my kids gets bitten.(They can gladly have my ex wife ...not really...no not really .)