A surfer by the name of Jabez Reitman, who probably deserves some sort of Balls Of Steel award, managed to drive himself to Byron Bay Hospital yesterday, after an attack by a 2-meter shark left him with serious back injuries.
“I thought it was a dolphin at first until I started feeling and realized it was pretty significant lacerations,” he said of the incident, adding “I should’ve stayed in bed.”
Reitman was transferred to Gold Coast University Hospital to undergo surgery on his injuries, and is in a stable condition there. He has admitted to being “a bit freaked out” by the whole experience.
In September last year, a 50-year-old swimmer was killed by a shark off Byron Bay.
Yesterday afternoon at the Gold Coast, more than 100 people gathered for a rally to protest the use of shark nets and drum lines off the Queensland coast.
Shark nets have been standard for several decades, but conservation groups argue that they endanger marine life like turtles, rays and dolphins, and that it is time to look at more humane methods of shark control.
“We need to have environmental consciousness on both sides of parliament,” said Broadwater Greens candidate Daniel Kwon.
“We need to implement new policies that prevent further deaths so we don’t have loss of biodiversity.”
