An Australian teenager nearly died after a shark crushed his leg — and narrowly missed his femoral artery.
Julian McLennan, 16, was surfing on Christmas Day evening when the beast attacked.
“I was sitting on the back, surfing, going through the waves and I just felt someone grab me,” McLennan told 9News. “I looked to the right and I saw a big fin coming out of the water and, like, it was a shark’s body.”
The teenager immediately started paddling towards the shore, not sure if he still had legs or not.
He said he yelled to his friend, Alex Tobin, to tell him what was happening.
“I just panicked,” he told a local outlet.
The quick-thinking friend hurriedly paddled to shore to grab his shirt to use as a tourniquet.
Once safe, the couple called their friend Will Anderson, who was sitting in the parking lot.
Julian McLennan, 16, was surfing on Christmas Day when a shark bit his leg as he sat behind his board around 4:30 p.m. They would later learn that McLennan had been bitten centimeters from his femoral artery, which could have caused him to bleed.
“At first, I didn’t believe it,” Anderson told the outlet. “I thought, ‘Oh yeah.’ But no, just the fear in his voice set off alarm bells in my head.”
The three of them got into the car and took off for the hospital, too afraid that the ambulance would take too long to get to them.
“Not knowing how bad the bite was, I just wanted to be on the safer side and move as fast as I could,” Anderson said.
The 16-year-old thanked his surfboard for saving his life as it took most of his bites. The bite mark is visible right by one of the back fins on the board. 9News McLennan and two friends will get in the car and drive to the hospital after he arrives at the beach. 9News
They would later learn that McLennan had been bitten inches from his femoral artery, which could have caused him to bleed.
The 16-year-old thanked his surfboard for saving his life as it took most of his bites. The terrifying photo shows a bite mark on the board by one of the back fins.
“If I didn’t have fins on the surfboard, it would probably take my leg,” he told 9News.
Despite the near-death experience, McLennan said he won’t stay out of the water forever, though he’s resting for now.
“I’m still a little shocked, but you know, we’ll get there,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
