SURF TERROR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 12, 15 January 1934, Page 9

SURF TERROR.

ATTACK BY SHARK. LIFE SAVER LOSES LEG. "GAME AS THEY MAKE THEM." (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, January 11. Last Sunday afternoon nt Queenscliff, one of the numerous beautiful stretches of open beach north of Manly on the ocean side, the thousands enjoying themselves in the water and 011 the sands were appalled by a sudden tragedy. Coliii Grant, a fine young athlete of 22, a member of the local life-saving club, of which lie was vice captain and belt champion, was just about to go 011 patrol duty when lie decided to have a short swim. He told a clubmatc, "I'll relieve you as soon as I have had a dip," and, accompanied by two others, both experienced surfmen, he swam out about 50 yards across a channel to a sandbank. He was in less than sft of water, but these channels arc constantly haunted by sharks scouring them for fish, and suddenly his companions heard him give the dreaded alarm-cry. They turned at once toward him —lie was only a few yards away —and one of them, in spite of his warning, plunged out to help him. But Grant waved them back, and started to swim for tho shore so strongly, that, powerful swimmers as they were, he left them all behind. It was only when they saw the great trail of blood following him through the water, and when, having reached the shallows, he tried to stand up, that they realised how terribly he had been mangled. How Life Was Saved. Grant himself, in describing the affair later, said that he felt, the shark tug six separate times at his leg, and it was only with a great effort that lie tore himself free. But the left leg wasalmost stripped of flesh from knee to ankle, and the horror-stricken bystanders saw at once that his condition was desperate. He displayed the most amazing self-control and fortitude. After he had driven the shark off, he said later, he lay on his back for a minute and raised his leg out of the water to see the extent of his injuries, and then, waving aside his would-be rescuers, he started for the shore. But his own courage would not have saved him without the resourcefulness and presence of mind of the young men around him. On the instant he reached the shore one seized a towel and improvised a bandage, another snatched 1 up the belt line and twisted it into a tourniquet;' and the doctors said later that nothing but their promptness saved 1 Grant's life. He was hurried off in an 1 ambulance to Manly Hospital, but in spite of the terrible loss of blood and the agony that he was enduring, he 1 waved cheerfully to his clubmates and gasped out that he would "meet them at the dance on Saturday night," as he was driven away. Blood Transfusion. ' On our beaches most people know ■ enough about "shark accidents" to 1 realise at once what is required in such ■ an emergency, and by the time that Grant had reached the hospital a number 1 of his mates, as well as two girls, ■ personally unknown to Grant, were ready to offer their services for blood ; transfusion. A suitable "subject" was selected, the transfusion was made with ' remarkable success, and Grant, who had gone down to the very door of death, recovered strength rapidly. The greater , part of the injured leg below the knee t was amputated, and the patient got ( over the anaesthetic and the shock ( wonderfully well. But, in spite of all . precautions, and the injection of thousands of units of serum, the dreaded ! gangrene manifested itself, and the rest , of the lower leg was removed up to the . knee. , Grant has come through the ordeal . splendidly; but the doctors say that [ their skill would have been useless if > it had not been for the astonishing . patience and courage of the young man and his resolute determination to "see it through." Perhaps the terse tribute of one of his clubmates on the beach— 1 "as game as they make them"—sums • him up better than any more elaborate > eulogy. Naturally a great many morals have ' been drawn by the newspaper critics ' from this tragic occurrence. One of the J most obvious inferences is the danger 1 that threatens surfers at all times, even 1 those best equipped by experience and skill who have taken all rational pre- ! cautions. As the "Sun" puts it—"ln ' this case the victim is an expert surf and belt champion who was taking not more than the normal chance—what chance, then, has the reckless amateur who goes in where and when the spirit moves him ?" As an instance of the almost insane stupidity displayed by some of our frequenters, I may mention that, when the life-savers cleared the beach after Grant's "accident," one man actually tried to argue that "sharks don't come into shallow water"—though Grant was in less than sft of water when he was attacked. Self-reliance and Courage. But I may close on a more eatisfacl tory note, with a quotation from the ; "Telegraph" which seems appropriate 1 to the occasion; "The sun-burned young • stalwarts of our surfing camps," and 1 "the young amazons who go into beach ' shops in bathing costume under the wary surveillance of the Commissioner ' of Police," may not always be notice- ; able for "the language or the manners of a polite drawing room"; but there ; is no denying that, as they have given : countless proofs, most of them are ! "tuned up to a fine pitch of selfreliance and courage." And Grant's misfortune may also serve to remind lis that the life-saving clubs which make , such a magnificent display on gala days are "not playing an ornamental game," 1 but that it is largely through tho unsel- ; fish and dangerous work so gaily under- ; taken by these self-appointed guardians that our boys and girls are no longer . "condemned to the life of mean streets," and the beaches are made safe everywhere for countless thousands of the Australian people.