News coming out of Australia this morning suggests a surfer in Western Australia’s Bunker Bay survived an attack from a 13-foot-long Great White Shark by beating the shark with his surfboard while others rushed to save him.
Thankfully, it sounds like the surfer is doing fine. An update on Facebook from his girlfriend says he’s ‘doing great’ and has been singing ‘Baby Shark’ while waiting to get stitched back together in the hospital.
The shark attack victim is 28-year-old Phil Mummert and his mother told the West Australian that he was ‘incredibly lucky’ to make it through the incident. Newsweek was quick to this news which only happened just a few hours ago, here’s their rundown of the events:
The shark, thought to be a 13-foot-long great white, bit the man on the leg in the waters of Bunker Bay, in the state of Western Australia, at around 2:15 p.m. local time on Friday, ABC News reported.
The man, who is in his 20s, was reportedly surfing at the time of the incident. Witnesses said the man hit the shark with his surfboard as other surfers rushed to his aid, the West Australian reported.
Local ambulance crews responded to the incident after an alarm was raised. A spokesperson for St. John Ambulance said the man had suffered injuries to his leg,although their severity is not currently known, nor is the victim’s condition, ABC News reported.Western Australia’s RAC Rescue said a rescue helicopter had been dispatched from the regional center of Bunbury, 7NEWS reported.
A woman, who works in the nearby Pullman Bunker Bay resort told ABC that the man received first aid in a nearby house while the rescue helicopter was travelling to the scene. The woman said employees had to move their vehicles from the carpark in order to make room for the helicopter to land. The man was airlifted to a local hospital. It is expected that he will then be taken to a hospital in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, which is located around 125 miles to the north of Bunker Bay. (via Newsweek)
This happened on Friday morning in Western Australia which given my limited understanding of how time zones work means this either happened on this upcoming Sunday morning in America or some time back in March, I’m really not sure.
It really feels like we’re glossing over the whole ‘man beats shark with a surfboard and survives attack’ aspect of this story as it’s just tossed in the first few lines like that isn’t the most impressive part of this entire ordeal.
After hitting the shark with his surfboard he made it out of the water with bites on his leg and is now at the hospital where he’ll get put back together in one piece. And the beach at Bunker Bay has now been closed as local boat patrols are out in an attempt to spot sharks in the area. Through only seven months of the year, Australia has already suffered through five fatal shark attacks.
I really don’t know if I’d ever have the presence of mind to punch an apex predator in the face or hit with a surfboard while being attacked. I’m always impressed by these people who are able to pause time with their lives on the line and think about the best path to survival. Like the guy who invented taxidermy after he was attacked by a leopard in Africa and stuck his damn fist down the leopard’s throat, while being attacked, and choked that leopard to death before preserving the animal and inventing taxidermy.