UPDATE: More than half the $10,000 goal has already been raised from a Go Fund Me page dedicated to shark victim Joe Hoffman.
Daniel Jamieson, a friend of the popular Sunshine Coast surfer, organised the fundraising campaign to help with medical bills after a Great White took a bite out of Joe’s right arm and favourite surfboard in the close encounter at Crescent Head, NSW.
Doctors at the John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, believe emergency surgery has saved the arm, despite the severe injuries.
“He’s stable and fighting well but is at the start of a long recovery process and could use any bit of help from the community to get him surfing and frothing again ASAP,” Daniel wrote on the fundraising page.
Visit Joe Hoffman Go Fund Me page
EARLIER: The father of a Sunshine Coast surfer mauled by a 3m shark at NSW’s Crescent Head says his son is lucky to be alive as he praised the quick actions of bystanders.
Respected Coast journalist Bill Hoffman’s only son Joe, 25, suffered a “significant bite” to his forearm and bicep in the frightening encounter, believed to have been with a Great White.
Joe remains in a serious but stable condition in John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, following the attack north of Port Macquarie, just before 4.30pm on Monday, July 5.
Messages of support have been flowing in for Bill, his wife Wendy and their son in the wake of the ordeal.
Mr Hoffman said Joe had managed to get himself to shore where, as if miraculously, off-duty medical professionals were able to help.
“(I) can’t believe how lucky he was,” Mr Hoffman told Sunshine Coast News.
“Trauma surgeon, a doctor and a nurse were on the beach as if waiting for him.”
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Crescent Head resident and long-time local surfer Robyn Harvey confirmed quick thinking and action by local bystanders probably saved the popular surfer’s life, when she spoke on Strawny’s Breaky Show on Triple M Mid North Coast.
She said medical experts and surf lifesavers were among the surfers and beachgoers who leapt into action following the traumatic event.
“We’re glad a lot of surfers are doctors, paramedics and there was an anaesthetist there that held the saline bag to help,” said Ms Harvey, whose friend Jan was surfing at the beach the same time as the attack.
“Just everybody chipped in to help save this young fellow ‘til the ambulance and everybody was there and brought a whole lot of blood in.
“Apparently a (trauma) doctor, he made a call to Newcastle because he knew what was going to happen, and they organised the (Westpac Rescue Helicopter) to come in.
“The surf club was brilliant. All the guys, they were there with all their equipment. They quickly got into the surf club. Everything was there for them. Everybody was brilliant.
“Absolutely unbelievable.”
NSW Ambulance Inspector Andrew Beverley said the bystanders who helped Mr Hoffman from the water and provided “crucial initial first-aid” should be praised.
Fellow surfers had carried him to a nearby park and used a leg rope as a makeshift tourniquet around his arm to help stop the bleeding.
“It was a significant bite and the man suffered serious injuries to his arm as a result,” Mr Beverley said.
“It might be cold at the moment but it’s important to always be aware of your surrounding in the water, even in winter.”
Ms Harvey told the radio station that by that time, police and ambulance sirens had brought locals and a NSW school holidays crowd of visitors down to the beach.
“There was that many people around,” she said.
“It was quite traumatic and very sad.
“I’ve never seen anything like that happen in my life – living here and being a local.
“They were all just worrying about it and making sure he made it to Newcastle (hospital) and he was stable, which he was when he left.
“It was a huge bite and the police took the board away.
“The beaches are closed so hopefully we never see anything like this ever again.”
Ms Harvey said Crescent Head locals were still in shock.
“It hit you a bit afterwards more than as it happened,” she said.
“A lot of people were in shock more than anything. Nobody was gawking. It was just something … ‘Hey it’s happened at our home beach’. It was awful.”
Crescent Head is a drone pilot training base for Surf Life Saving NSW and drones have been undertaking surveillance flights of the area from first light.
Officers will contact the Department of Primary Industry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The beach has been closed by Surf Life Saving NSW.
The latest attack follows a fatal encounter at Tuncurry Beach on the NSW Mid North Coast in May that claimed the life of a 59-year-old man from Sydney’s northern beaches.
Authorities said the man had seen the shark before it attacked and tried to alert other surfers.
-with AAP
