Andre de Ruyter, 27, was mauled off Manly Beach and initially given just a 5% chance of survival after losing almost all the blood in his body from a bite to his right leg. Nearby surfers improvised a tourniquet and paddled him ashore, where Prof Brian Burns and other medical personnel provided emergency care. Paramedics who had brought extra blood helped restore his pulse; he was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital and remains in critical but stable condition after his lower right leg was amputated. Authorities closed several beaches after a spate of shark incidents in the region.
Surfer Given 5% Chance Of Survival After Shark Mauling Saved By Passing Specialist And Lifesavers
Shark attack victim Andre de Ruyter, 27, had his lower right leg amputated
An Australian surfer, Andre de Ruyter, 27, was mauled off Manly Beach on Monday evening and initially assessed as having only a 5 per cent chance of survival after a severe bite to his right leg left him with catastrophic blood loss.
Prof Brian Burns’s swift actions kept the man alive
Rapid, Lifesaving Response On The Sand
Two nearby surfers heard Mr de Ruyter's cries for help, swam out and paddled his bleeding body back to shore. By the time they reached the beach he had suffered cardiac arrest. The surfers improvised a tourniquet from a leash when the injured man repeatedly cried for one, helping to slow the bleeding until further help arrived.
The rescue effort on Manly Beach was led by paramedics, police and emergency workers - Northern Beaches Advocate
“I told him not to look back, don’t look at your leg, just keep paddling,” one of the rescuers, identified as Ash, told local television. “He said to me, ‘tourniquet, tourniquet, tourniquet’. He saved himself in a way. I started screaming it.”
Specialist Care And Coordinated Rescue
By coincidence, Prof Brian Burns — a leading expert in pre-hospital trauma care and clinical professor of emergency medicine at Macquarie University — was on the beach and led emergency treatment on the sand. Junior members of the North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club, who were taking a CPR course nearby, joined with lifesavers carrying trauma kits and a defibrillator. An ambulance crew and an air ambulance team arrived and worked with the beach responders to stabilise Mr de Ruyter.
Mr de Ruyter’s lower right leg was amputated following the incident
Critical Blood Supplies And Recovery
One New South Wales paramedic team had prepared an extra four units of blood — double the usual amount — after learning how severe the injuries were. Paramedics used all available fluids and blood supplies in a desperate attempt to restore circulation after the man’s pulse had disappeared. Eventually his pulse returned and he was transported by ambulance to Royal North Shore Hospital.
Current Condition And Aftermath
Mr de Ruyter remains in critical but stable condition at Royal North Shore Hospital. His lower right leg has been amputated. The attack was reported as one of four shark incidents in the Sydney region within 48 hours, prompting temporary beach closures.
Community Response
Federal MP Zali Steggall praised the “incredibly brave surfers, first responders, lifeguards and community members” who rushed to help and announced that several beaches would be closed while authorities respond to the spate of attacks.
Key Facts: Attack site: Manly Beach (site of the world’s first surf contest in 1964). Suspected species: bull shark. Patient: Andre de Ruyter, 27, from Wollongong.
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