Shark Fatally Mauls Young Sydney Surfer

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 561, 14 January 1929, Page 9

Shark Fatally Mauls Young Sydney Surfer

DREADFUL ATTACK BRAVE BUT VAIN RESCUE ( United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) Reed. 9.5 a.m. SYDNEY, To-day. A 14-year-old boy, Colin James Stuart, was badly mauled by a 12ft. shark at Bondi Beach on Saturday evening. Many bathers were leaving the surf at the time when the shark appeared. The lad was swimming quietly when the shark attacked him and injured one of his legs. A companion swam to his assistance and with the help of a man carried him ashore. The injured boy was sent to hospital. He died after a gallant fight against odds. The doctors regarded the case as hopeless from the beginning. The boy was conscious to the end. He said the first bite was painless. He thought someone was playing a joke. Then the shark seized him again. His rescuer. Robert Kavanough, aged 22, says he was about ten yards away when he heard a cry and rushed to Stuart's assistance. The shark was tearing at the lad’s leg. and it then disappeared. Kavanough seized the stricken boy and carried him shoreward till others came to his assistance. He felt the reaction of his dreadful experience, and his legs almost became useless. When others took his burden from him, he slipped off homeward. Kavanough is an athlete. He won the half-mile relay race at the University sports on Saturday afternoon. The attack by the shark emphasise* the danger run by hundreds of people in bathing in the surf in the evenings during the hot spell.