Surgeons try to reattach surfer’s leg bitten off by shark

A young surfer whose right leg was bitten off by a shark in eastern Australia has undergone a series of operations to reattach it.
Kai McKenzie, 23, was attacked by what is believed to be a 3m great white. His leg washed up on a beach on Tuesday shortly after it was bitten off, New South Wales police said.
McKenzie had been surfing at North Shore Beach, Port Macquarie, a popular holiday town about 300km north of Sydney.
Kirran Mowbray, of the local ambulance crew, said McKenzie saw the shark approach him in the surf and attempted to fight it off. Despite losing his leg, he was able to catch a wave back to shore, where an off-duty policeman walking his dog used his leash as a temporary tourniquet to stem the bleeding, an act that Mowbray said “essentially saved Mr McKenzie’s life”.
Paramedics arrived soon after and took McKenzie to hospital before he and his leg, which had been packed in ice by onlookers, were transported 200km south to the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.
McKenzie’s condition was initially reported to be “critical but stable”. The hospital said that at the request of his family no further information was being released.
McKenzie, a rising star on the Australian east coast surf scene, had been out of action with a neck injury for several months and returned to surfing in January. In a Facebook post, his aunt, Michelle McKenzie, described him as “an incredible surfer, skater, musician, videographer and all-round legend”. She said he had suffered “life-changing injuries” in the attack and the best immediate support would be a donation.
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A GoFundMe page set up for his welfare had raised more than the A$100,000 (£51,000) target amount by late on Wednesday.
The surfing label Rage, which sponsors McKenzie, described him on Instagram as an “inspiring person” and “the toughest person that we know”.
Last August, the 44-year-old surfer Toby Begg lost part of his right leg and sustained injuries to his left leg when he was mauled by a great white , also at Port Macquarie. There were four fatal shark attacks in Australia last year: three in the south and one in the west. While there have been a number of attacks this year, none have been fatal.