A shark-attack victim is recovering well in the Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic after four hours of surgery to his right leg and foot.
Chris Sullivan (32), a British tourist on holiday in Cape Town, was attacked, presumably by a great white shark, at Noordhoek beach on Monday.
”The surgery has gone well,” said Sister Barbara Lander, emergency unit manager at the clinic.
She said the wounds to Sullivan’s leg resulted from him pulling his leg from the jaws of the shark.
Lander said Sullivan is in good spirits, surrounded by friends and family. He is expected to be discharged in five days.
According to Clive Mortimer, National Sea Rescue Institute station commander at Kommetjie, the institute launched a rescue boat after receiving a shark-attack report.
”On arrival on scene, we found Chris Sullivan, on holiday in Cape Town from New Quay, United Kingdom, already on the beach with lacerations to his right calf and puncture wounds underneath his foot, in an otherwise stable condition after being attacked in the surf line by what he reported to be a great white shark,” said Mortimer.
He said Sullivan was stabilised and flown by emergency helicopter to the Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic.
Mortimer said Sullivan, who arrived in Cape Town on Sunday, had been surfing with two friends, one from Scotland and the other from the United Kingdom but now resident in the Western Cape, when the incident occurred.
Mortimer said while bathers and surfers have been warned of the attack, beaches in the area remain open. — Sapa