So many people love looking at the ocean. At a glance, it is tranquil, and year after year, families flock to their local beaches to get some quality time in — or by — the waves. However, the ocean is never to be trifled with, and one young 16-year-old Australian swimmer learned this the hard way after a shark attacked him.
Reports of an attack came at 4 p.m. on June 29, 2025, at Cabarita Beach on the New South Wales’ north coast. What is believed to be a bull shark chased and maimed the young man. Harrowing footage showed a nearly 7-foot shark attacking the right side of his body, leaving him with painful injuries to his leg, hand, and arm.
Fellow beach-goers sprung intro action to help him. One person even reportedly punched the shark to get it to back away, according to The Sun. The shark even seemed to follow rescuers as they attempted to carry the victim to safety.
Daily Mail reports one bystander said he saw his arm “dangling by a thread” at the time of rescue.
“His bicep was destroyed — you could see all the muscle, flesh, and bone,” he recalled. “He lost a scary amount of blood. I was covered in it.”
The boy was lucid, telling rescuers that he fought it off by kicking and punching the shark. He is currently in stable condition at Gold Coast University Hospital, where he was airlifted to.
On average around 63 unprovoked shark attacks happen yearly. In the United States, Florida sees the highest number of shark attacks per year.
