An off-duty volunteer lifeguard who pulled a woman from the ocean after she was bitten by a shark has revealed how he helped save her life while in a state of “panic” himself.
Emergency crews were called to Coogee in Sydney’s east just before 11am yesterday after reports of a “large” shark attack.
NSW Ambulance said the 35-year-old woman suffered “quite massive wounds to her left lower leg and her arms”.
She remains in a critical but stable condition at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Twenty-five-year-old Charlie Verco, who has been heralded a hero, said he was about 100 metres down the beach from the woman on a paddleboard training for a competition when her friend “started screaming shark”.
“The shark didn’t look like it was moving too aggressively. It was moving very slowly and inquisitively, so I thought I’d be able to just paddle over and help them onto shore on my [18-foot] board,” he said.
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It was a clear day in the water, with Mr Verco saying he could see “the big dark patch in the water” and knew it was a shark because of the girls’ panic.
“I knew it was there. I knew it was big,”
he said.
“And I just thought because it was moving slowly, it would just have a look and then leave them alone once it realised it wasn’t their normal food.”
Mr Verco said when the shark grabbed her, he panicked.
“Obviously, I kept heading over towards her. I didn’t really know what I should do,” he said.
“The real panic kind of set in once I saw her getting dragged around a little bit and then when I saw the shark come out of the water and just saw how actually big it was very freaky.
“Just the size of it was really shocking to me.”
The woman was attacked by a shark at Coogee Beach in Sydney’s east. (Supplied: Shawn Buttling)
‘Very much in shock’
Mr Verco said he could not get closer because the shark “was so big and powerful”.
So instead, he used a signal to indicate to lifeguards on shore to clear the beach and assist.
“The water got very bloody and she got taken under and after a few seconds, popped up again, and the shark had let her go,”
he said.
“That was when I was able to actually get close enough to her and get her to grab the front of my board.
“She was lucid enough to say, ‘Help’, and respond to instruction, but she was very much in shock and definitely freaked out and wasn’t able to have conversation.
“All I really wanted to do was to go to shore, obviously, but because I was the only one on any craft near her, I was like, if I don’t, I’m not here to help her, no-one is.”
Charlie Verco has been part of the North Bondi surf club since he was six years old. (Supplied: Charlie Verco)
Paddling backwards to shore
Mr Verco said he started paddling, but after seeing she was not able to get onto the board, he got her to hang onto a drink bottle holder on the front.
“I’m on a big board, so it was hard to actually be agile and turn around, so I just had to paddle backwards,”
he said.
“About halfway into shore, she lost consciousness and I had to go grab her by the arm and just keep her head out of the water with one arm and paddle backwards with the other until we got close to shore there was lifeguards there ready to help.
“They helped me pick her up and get her onto the sand where there was about another 10 people, whether it was the more council lifeguards or police in the area or it was a busy day at Coogee, just members of the public that had medical training.”
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He said they applied tourniquets and began CPR. She regained consciousness.
“It took a lot of pride in being an Australian and how ready and prepared everyone was to do what they could to keep her alive,”
he said.
“I’ve never been more proud to be part of the Surf Life Saving Club and been more appreciative of the skills that I learnt through that, being prepared and understanding first aid and knowing what to do.
“And that community has been incredibly supportive of me over the last 24 hours, just checking in, making sure I’m all right, having the resources to have experts to talk to if I needed to.”
‘Really unlucky’
A number of Sydney beaches have been closed. (ABC News: James Lawrence)
Mr Verco had lived in North Bondi his whole life, joining the local surf club when he was six.
He said he spent plenty of time in the water and had seen sharks before, but this was one of the “biggest” he had ever seen.
“The shark was so big that I thought it would be able to bite myself and my board in half without much effort,” he said.
Usually, he felt “most safe” paddling at Coogee Beach.
“Especially being that close to shore in the middle of the day on a day that clear … just showed that I think she was really unlucky, but also you’re always vulnerable when you’re in the water,”
he said.
Coogee Beach along with others in the Randwick Council area remain closed.
