UPDATE:
NSRI spoke to Jacques Mostert, 29, from Centurion, this morning by telephone and he is in good spirits and recovering well in a Mossel Bay hospital.
He told us that his friend had exited the water while they were surfing and on his way out of the surf he was circled by a shark which bit him and he managed to swim out of the surf after being bitten and his friends ran into the water to help him out of the water before raising the alarm.
Hospital staff and doctors at Life Bayview hospital in Mossel Bay stitched his wounds last night and he remains in hospital receiving treatment but he is out of danger.
Original news release:
Rico Menezies, NSRI Stilbaai station commander, said:”At 17h15 on the afternoon of Friday, 07th July, NSRI Stilbaai volunteer sea rescue duty crew and the SA Police Force and Cape Nature, were activated following reports of a man bitten by a shark while surfing at Sandstrand (Sand Beach), Jongensfontein, 20 kilometers up the coast from Stilbaai – North East of Cape Town, approximately half way between Cape Town and Mossel Bay.
“NSRI Stilbaai volunteer sea rescue duty crew, Cape Nature and Police responded to the scene where the victim was found on the beach suffering two serious lacerations to his left upper leg and serious lacerations to his left knee with serious blood loss but conscious.
“NSRI medics and local doctor, dr. Pieter Joubert, treated the man on-scene, stabilizing him using tournique bandaging and intravenous fluid replacement, to compensate for massive blood loss, and oxygen therapy, and an ER24 ambulance was summoned and the patient has been transported to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
“He was surfing with friends and his fellow surfers, who reportedly witnessed the incident, removed him from the water.
“Initial estimates, based on the eye-witness accounts, and from the bite marks we estimate the shark to have been between 4 and 4.5 meters but the species of shark is not yet confirmed.
“The victim, 29 year old Jacques Mostert, from Eldorado Park, Centurion, Gauteng, was on holiday with friends and we believe his brother is with him too.
“The parents of the victim, in Centurion, have been informed and they are reassured that their son is doing well and in good care.”