California shark attack seriously injures surfer
The great white shark was spotted hunting a school of salmon.
A 25-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries Tuesday when a shark attacked him while he was surfing in Eureka, California.
CNN reported that other surfers helped the man from the water and rushed him to the hospital before local beach patrol could respond.
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Witnesses told the Eureka Times Standard that the man was bleeding badly from abdominal injuries. An emergency medical technician was one of those who immediately helped the surfer on the beach care for his wounds, which ran from his ribs to below his hips.
A Humboldt County deputy who spoke with the victim as he was being taken into surgery said the man suffered a 14-inch bite wound and other smaller wounds, according to the Associated Press. He was listed in fair condition on Tuesday.
Jason Gabriel was at the beach and had just finished surfing when he saw other people helping the injured surfer out of the water, the AP also reported. He said he had at least four gashes between his ribs and hips.
"It punctured all the way through. There were guts and meat hanging," he said, adding that the victim appeared to be in shock. "He was going, 'Oh my God, oh my God.'"
Tuesday’s attack was believed to be by a great white shark, according to UPI. It came just a week after another surfer was killed by an apparent great white while surfing north of Los Angeles near Lompoc.