Alejo Santiñaque, 20, was bitten on the foot by a shark at Red Cliff Beach while waiting on his surfboard. He kicked the shark free, swam to his board and then to shore, where friends applied a tourniquet and he was taken to hospital by ambulance. Doctors treated punctured muscle and skin, a ruptured tendon and other injuries. Alejo says he "got off lightly" and stresses that sharks are wild animals in their own habitat, not villains.
Surfer Escapes Death After Shark Bites Foot and Drags Him Underwater — 'I Got Off Lightly'
Friends of Brooms Head/Facebook
A 20-year-old Uruguayan surfer, Alejo Santiñaque, narrowly escaped a potentially fatal encounter off the Australian coast when a shark bit his foot and briefly dragged him underwater at Red Cliff Beach.
Alejo, who has lived in Australia for nearly two years, wrote on Facebook that he was sitting on his board waiting for a wave when he suddenly felt a powerful strike. “I suddenly felt a hard hit and a strong pull on my foot,” he recalled. “A shark had bitten me. Everything happened incredibly fast — I don’t think more than two seconds passed between the bite and my reaction.”
Fight, Flight, and Fast First Aid
Dragged toward deeper water, Alejo says his immediate instinct was to fight back. “My immediate response was to kick it as hard as I could to make it let go,” he said. His quick reaction freed him, and he swam as fast as possible toward his board and the shore, which thankfully lay in the same direction.
Getty Images
“Those moments were extremely intense because I had no idea if the shark would come back, so my only focus was getting out of the water,” Alejo said. “Keeping a clear head was crucial.”
Friends on the beach rushed to help and applied a tourniquet. Alejo was taken by ambulance to a hospital where medical staff treated puncture wounds to skin and muscle, identified a ruptured tendon, and treated additional injuries to surrounding tissues.
Aftermath and Perspective
Reflecting on the attack, Alejo said he considers himself fortunate: “I know I got off lightly.” He also emphasized that he does not blame the shark. “The ocean is its home, and we are the ones entering its environment,” he said. “Sharks are not villains or monsters. They are wild animals and an essential part of the marine ecosystem. What happened was a very unfortunate accident, but it doesn’t change the love and respect I have for the ocean.”
The incident serves as a reminder of both the risks of ocean activities and the importance of quick thinking, basic first aid, and community support when accidents happen at sea.
Help us improve.
