KEY POINTS:
A New Zealand couple tied an extension cord around the bloody stump of a teenage shark attack victim at the weekend and drove him from a remote beach in a desperate effort that saved his life.
Amy Worling, 26, and Pete Hickmott, 32, last night told the Herald
of their race to save 15-year-old surfer Zak Golebiowski.
The Otago couple, on a working holiday in Australia, arrived at Wharton Beach in Duke of Orleans Bay, on Western Australia's southern coast, soon after a 5-metre white pointer attacked Zak, taking his right leg from below the knee.
Ms Worling, a bar worker, and Mr Hickmott, a shearer, had gone to the beach on Saturday morning to fish.
They were met by calls for help from Zak's brother, Sam, 18, and friend Joe Redman, 15.
"I saw someone wave and yell out 'Help'," said Ms Worling. "I said to Pete, 'I think there's blood in the water. I think it's a shark attack'.
"Pete said, 'Yeah, something's gone wrong. They've ditched their surfboards. We better get down there'."
Joe Redman came to the couple as they ran down the beach and told them of the attack, which happened while the boys were body-boarding.
Said Ms Worling: "Pete brought the car down on to the beach and while they were away doing that I grabbed [one of the teenagers'] hoodie and towel, thinking it [the injury] was going to need bandaging, and raced into the water and helped Sam drag Zak out up on to the beach.
"I saw his leg was missing."
She wrapped the hoodie around his stump.
"I just saw it and knew we were going to have to stop the bleeding or this guy's going to die."
Mr Hickmott and Sam helped Zak into the back seat of the station wagon.
Said Ms Worling: "I saw the extension cord on the floor. I grabbed it and wrapped it around his leg as many times as I could, and tied it real tight."
Police constable Katrina Luke said it was fortunate that Zak received immediate first aid.
He was in a serious condition, but the fact he was stable was largely due to the help he got at the scene.
Ms Worling said a doctor told them the extension cord saved Zak's life.
Zak's father, Les Golebiowski, said the tourniquet and first aid given by the New Zealanders made all the difference in saving his son.
"I'd say the people on the beach probably saved his life," he told Perth's Sunday Times newspaper.
Zak stopped bleeding heavily once in the back of the car, Ms Worling said. A paramedic told her his remaining blood would have rushed to his chest to protect the heart and brain.
"He lost a lot of blood in the water and then it stopped from the time he got to the breakers and they dragged him on to the beach," she said. "He was a terrible grey colour."
Zak was conscious throughout his ordeal and sang to himself as he lay in the back seat.
"He was a marvellous kid. He kept asking us to be quiet, stop talking. He just wanted everyone to be calm. He sang a wee song to himself. I couldn't hear what he was singing but he was singing quietly to himself."
The rescuers called emergency services, saying they would start the hour-long drive towards Esperance and meet an ambulance on the way.
About 10km before the popular holiday town, St John Ambulance paramedics met them and took Zak to Esperance Regional Hospital.
He was then flown for surgery at Royal Perth Hospital.
A hospital spokeswoman said Zak was in a "reasonably stable" condition yesterday. His left leg was badly lacerated in the attack.
Ms Worling said she and Mr Hickmott returned to the beach after transferring Zak to the ambulance, and the great white shark was "circling the surfboard. It was there most of the morning until about 2 that afternoon."
Sky News last night reported that West Australian fisheries authorities had spotted the shark but were reluctant to destroy it unless it threatened more lives.
Ms Worling and Mr Hickmott plan to visit Zak in hospital this week. The Roxburgh couple have been working in Western Australia for two months, and plan to return home for Christmas.
- Additional reporting NZPA
