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Shutterstock/Sergey Uryadnikov

65-year-old Australian surfer escapes serious injury after shark attack

A video shows the man giving an emphatic thumbs up after being rescued.

A VETERAN SURFER escaped with foot and arm injuries after a great white shark rammed his board and dragged him underwater off Australia’s east coast today.

The 65-year-old managed to swim ashore and raise the alarm, before being airlifted to hospital in a stable condition.

“The surfer received puncture wounds to his foot and his arm,” New South Wales state police said of the incident at Seven Mile Beach near Forster, 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Sydney.

The state’s department of primary industries, which attended the scene, tweeted that “specialists have confirmed the shark involved in an incident off Booti Booti National Park this morning was a white shark”.

The Newcastle Herald reported it measured up to 3.5 metres (11 feet), with pictures showing a large chunk bitten off the man’s board, which split in half.

Westpac rescue helicopter crewman Graham Nickerson said the surfer told him he was with friends when the shark hit him from underneath.

“Apparently the shark came up under his board, snapped his board in two and then dragged him under by the leg rope,” Nickerson told reporters.

“He’s quite happy… considering what he’s been through, but he’s got pretty severe lacerations to his lower limbs, but he’s in a stable condition.”

The beach has been closed until further notice.

The attack is the latest off the New South Wales coast in recent months, with a surfer sustaining cuts to his leg just weeks ago while in the water near popular tourist spot Byron Bay.

Experts say shark attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular and baitfish move closer to shore, but fatalities remain rare.

© – AFP 2016

Read: Irishman up for Pride of Australia Medal after he saves friend from great white shark attack

Read: Australian kitesurfer savaged to death in shark attack

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    Mute Frank Emerson
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:21 AM

    Haven’t been this shocked since it got dark last night.

    424
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    Mute Darren Mc Mahon
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:38 AM

    @Frank Emerson: pretty sure it was you and not them that lost sleep. They are laughing all the way to the bank. But to be fair they never pretend to be customer friendly.

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    Mute The Divils Avocado
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 12:52 PM

    They also probably had way more refunds to process

    15
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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:44 AM

    Strange. I had a holiday booked for Easter 2020. Cancelled 2 Ryanair flights, opting for vouchers. Realised later in 2020 that Easter 2021 wouldn’t be likely either. Contacted Ryanair again. Had my full refund a few weeks later. No problems. No hassle. Well Done Ryanair!

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    Mute Kev
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:08 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: I had a similar experience with Ryanair, requested the refund and it arrived within 2 weeks. Aer Lingus on the other hand took about 4 months for a voucher refund.

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    Mute Peter Walsh
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:10 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: And do Ryanair have decent pension plans lads or what’s the story?

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    Mute Bri Lyons
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:33 AM

    @Peter Walsh: if you were smart you would find that out before going to work for them…and if you don’t like the pension conditions or lack thereof then go work elsewhere.

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    Mute Peter Walsh
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:36 AM

    @Bri Lyons: Wow. Sense of humour by-pass there Bri.

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    Mute Megan Elizabeth FW
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:44 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: I got a refund for a cancelled flight within a week. Believe me, we’re in the minority

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    Mute Mark
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 11:10 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: yep a similar story for me. I opted for the voucher that I still couldn’t use due to ongoing pandemic 12 months later. So I requested a refund and received it within a couple of days.

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    Mute Frank Emerson
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 11:55 AM

    @Mark: so they had your money for 12 months.

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    Mute Ger Murphy
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 12:13 PM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: Got to agree. I was pleasantly surprised to get refunds at all & equally how efficient the process was.

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    Mute Shane McGrath
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:23 AM

    Brutal airline.

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    Mute pat seery
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:34 AM

    Give Me An Airline that is cheaper to Fly to the UK than A bus trip say 100 Klms from Dublin Received REFUND LAST WEEK FOR a Flight booking March 20 Without Applying for Well Done Ryanair They Are Probably working through Millions of Refuns

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    Mute Justin O'Toole
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:37 AM

    @pat seery: nonsense, just booked a flight with Aer Lingus in March and it was far cheaper. Also im pretty sure all airlines are in the same boat.

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    Mute Paul Hedderman
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:38 AM

    @Justin O’Toole: Thanks to Ryanair Aerlingus has had copy their business model and offer cheap no frills fares. Otherwise Aerlingus fares would be way more expensive. Similar with many european legacy airlines.

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    Mute JustMeHere
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 10:45 AM

    @pat seery: why would they be working through millions on refunds? Their pandemic flight cancellations happened in 2020. Their refunds are done. They are abysmal to deal with.

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    Mute Justin O'Toole
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 2:44 PM

    @Paul Hedderman: Paul, but if you think FR came up with this model. I think you are misinformed.

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    Mute Anne
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:40 AM

    Ryanair so much cheaper. Had a few flights booked. Got every cent returned.

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    Mute Thinkaboutit
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:42 AM

    @Anne: Michael O Leary you’re fooling no one under that ‘Anne’ account

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    Mute Joe Kennedy
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:47 AM

    @Thinkaboutit: the horse profile pic is a dead give away!!

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    Mute Greg Ward
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:17 AM

    Ya. It’s Ryanair.

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    Mute Rmaybe
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:23 AM

    It’s a no frills airline. Customer service is obviously a frill. I’ve always found the webchat to be the fastest and most responsive way.

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    Mute Terence Martin
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:19 AM

    Like everyone, I’m not too surprised. I cancelled a flight during first lockdown and jumped through all the hoops for a refund. Went out of my head and low and behold they emailed last week to confirm the refund had been processed! Nearly 2 years later. Better late than never I suppose. Between themselves and Eir it’s close as to who has worse customer service.

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    Mute Helen Rafferty
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:23 AM

    TAP is right up there still waiting for a refund for cancelled flights 14 months later.

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    Mute Y
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 8:31 AM

    @Helen Rafferty: if you paid via credit card you could go down that route, I did that with Ryanair, I was refunded in less than 5 weeks because RA never replied to my credit card company.

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    Mute Edward Reid
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 3:30 PM

    @Y: or if you paid via PayPal.

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    Mute Mark Dervan
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:53 AM

    I had flights booked with Ryanair before the pandemic for September 2020 but naturally didn’t travel due to the restrictions. Wouldnt let me cancel. Tried to amend the flight for free but would only let me change to the end of 2020. Tried to transfer flights to a random date in 2021 even though would still not be guaranteed of travelling but were charging me the cost of a extra flight to do so. No reply from ‘customer service’. Said because my original flight was not cancelled and still left I couldn’t get a refund. Diabolical service but not surprised. Will endeavour to never use them again

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    Mute Mary Ryan
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:12 AM

    I had no problem with Ryanair getting refunds when I had to cancel flights during the pandemic. Now a couple of weeks ago I had a nightmare with flights coming home with ryanair. Absolutely dreadful staff which is not the norm. But I applied for compensation and it was sorted in no time.

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    Mute Pádraig Ó h-Éanacháin
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:46 AM

    No surprise there. Coming Michael O Leary mantra 90% of the time the customer is always wrong. They never were great on customer service.

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    Mute Maria Monaghan
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 10:59 AM

    Got mine no problem.

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    Mute John McCann
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 10:23 AM

    Hardly news, would only use them when there is no other carrier to my destination.

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    Mute Peter
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:43 AM

    Had no issues getting refunds with both Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

    If you didn’t book directly with the airline, then you need to get your refund from the company you’ve paid. I’m sure those companies got their refunds and haven’t passed them on.

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    Mute John Feeney
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 10:41 AM

    I chose to take the voucher instead, which came pretty much straight away to be fair to them! Which I’ve also since used!

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    Mute Des O'Leary
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 10:03 AM

    Rubbish; had no problem getting refunds from Ryanair. KLM was the best; got a voucher within a week. Aer Lingus took 3 months!!!

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    Mute Jonathan
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 9:10 AM

    Shocker

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    Mute Rob Hunt
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 12:30 PM

    Only a month? Aer Lingus kept €700 of ours for nearly 9.

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    Mute John Feeney
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 12:45 PM

    @Rob Hunt: same! I found them a nightmare to deal with / get hold of!

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    Mute Byron Deithrick
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    Feb 4th 2022, 12:28 AM

    There’s covid ?

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    Mute Mike Hogan
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    Feb 3rd 2022, 10:37 PM

    Horrible air line.

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