Shark tried to `rip off’ Bondi surfer’s arm
Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 14 Feb 2009: 9.
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“The shark just latched on to his arm. He started screaming `shark’. The shark was just ripping into his arm, trying to rip his arm off, thrashing about in thewater,” Mick Marjonovich, who was only five metres away from the attack on Thursday, told surfing magazine Stab.
“He thought he was going to die. He said to me, `Tell my wife, Lisa, I love her’. He’ll probably save a couple of inches of arm from his elbow. If the surgeons can keep any more than that, they’ve done well.”
Mr [Orgias]’s pregnant wife, Lisa, was traumatised, at one point collapsing on to the floor. She appeared inconsolable as she waited to hear if the 10-hour operation on Mr Orgias’s left arm was successful.
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FATHER-TO-BE Glen Orgias was surfing at the southern end of Bondi, where the locals surf away from the tourists, just on nightfall when the second shark attack in as many days occurred.
“The shark just latched on to his arm. He started screaming `shark’. The shark was just ripping into his arm, trying to rip his arm off, thrashing about in thewater,” Mick Marjonovich, who was only five metres away from the attack on Thursday, told surfing magazine Stab.
As several surfers managed to get to shore, the water became red with blood.
“When he stood up, his hand was dangling down on a piece of skin. He was holding his bicep together; that was ripped apart. He was looking towards me and all I could see was the bone of his forearm, and his hand just hanging off.”
Still conscious after the attack, the 33-year-old told one surfer who had come to his rescue, James McIntosh, to pass a message to
his wife that he loved her.
“He thought he was going to die. He said to me, `Tell my wife, Lisa, I love her’. He’ll probably save a couple of inches of arm from his elbow. If the surgeons can keep any more than that, they’ve done well.”
French tourist Mikael Thomas, 21, said the Origin Energy worker’s injuries were severe.
“We could see all of his bones cut like with a big knife,” he said.
Bondi Beach was closed for several hours yesterday morning.
A rescue helicopter conducted patrols over the beach while lifeguards on jetskis searched for sharks. There were no sightings throughout the day, but only a handful of surfers went into the water.
On Wednesday, an elite navy diver, Paul de Gelder, 31, lost his right hand and suffered serious wounds to his thigh while attacked by a shark during early morning anti-terrorist exercises in Sydney Harbour.
Yesterday, the intensive care unit of St Vincent’s Hospital was filled with distraught friends and relatives of both men.
Mr Orgias’s pregnant wife, Lisa, was traumatised, at one point collapsing on to the floor. She appeared inconsolable as she waited to hear if the 10-hour operation on Mr Orgias’s left arm was successful.
Surf Life Saving Australia and NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald both issued statements calling for calm. They also warned against entering thewater at dusk or dawn, when sharks are more active.
Business leaders fear the shark attack will destroy the area’s tourist trade. Bondi Chamber of Commerce vice-president Max Siano said news of the attacks would reverberate around the world, scaring off tourists.
Bondi’s largest surf school, Let’s Go Surfing, cancelled lessons yesterday and issued a statement saying the terrible and up-
setting event had shaken the local community.
Through a hospital spokesman, the family of Mr Orgias have thanked people at the scene who helped save his life, as well as ambulance and hospital staff, who they said played played a critical role.
Credit: John Stapleton, Jared Owens, Additional reporting: Fred Pawle