11/30/2023 Male Great Barrier Reef Queensland Australia

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'Saved his life': Man mauled by shark while diving on Great Barrier Reef

A young man is lucky to be alive after being mauled by a shark off a remote island in the Great Barrier Reef.
Paramedics said his quick-thinking companions "saved his life" by applying a tourniquet and getting him back to the boat.
The 21-year-old has deep puncture wounds to his bicep and shoulder but he's thankfully in a stable condition after being attacked about 12.30pm at Clack Island.

It is a very remote island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, about halfway between Cairns and the tip of the Cape York Peninsula, where the man was said to be diving for sea cucumbers.
The rescue helicopter was tasked to the scene and the man was admitted to Cairns Base Hospital not long before 6pm (7pm AEDT).
Critical care flight paramedic Valerie Hurlblatt said the man was with about four people, who applied temporary tourniquet and basic first aid, which stopped the bleeding.
"That has definitely saved his life," she said.
"It stemmed the bleeding enough to get him on to the main vessel.

"I believe if there wasn't a tourniquet or they hadn't stemmed the bleeding, it may have been a different circumstance."
She said the man told paramedics the shark was about 1.8 metres and it took about half an hour to get him back to the main boat he was on.
"He was in the water swimming next to a shark when it changed behaviour and it's turned and attacked him," she told reporters at the scene.

https://www.9news.com.au/