A teenager has had a lucky escape after a large shark latched onto his leg while he was surfing in South Australia on Good Friday.
Oliver Tokic-Bensley was alone in the water at the Middleton surf break, south of Adelaide, when he felt something “jerk on his ankle” and drag him off his board.
The 16-year-old was in the water and confronted by the fin of a suspected Bronze Whaler shark metres away from him after the attack.
Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Reports from Shark Watch South Australia confirmed the youngster then paddled over 100m to the beach with a cut ankle, bleeding into the water.
“SWSA would like to assure the public that bite incidents at this location are incredibly rare, with only one or two other documented shark bite incidents at Middleton alone,” a statement said.
The wound was left unstitched to avoid infection. Credit: Shark Watch South Australia
“Other close encounters of the past have involved bumps on surfers from Bronze Whaler sharks.”
After arriving at Victor Harbour Hospital for treatment, doctors decided to leave the wound unstitched to “reduce the risk of infection” according to the Adelaide Advertiser.
Only two weeks ago, another shark, thought to be around six foot, was spotted within the contest zone at the Southern Surf Festival.
“If you’re coming out of something like that, you’ve always got to be pretty grateful to be at least not harmed too bad,” a witness identified only as Angus told 7NEWS.
“But yeah, he got out pretty good, which you’ve got to be happy about.”
