A young surfer saw the shark approaching while he was in the waters off the shore of an Australian beach. 23-year-old Kai McKenzie was attacked by the nearly 10-foot animal as he floated on his board in the ocean off northern New South Wales in Australia.
McKenzie survived the attack with his life, but not his leg. It was severed by a bite from the shark — and later, both horrifyingly and miraculously, washed ashore in the surf of North Shore Beach in Port Macquarie, just before noon on Tuesday, Seven News Australia reported.
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New South Wales Police, who shared an image of McKenzie's badly damaged surfboard with Scripps News, were involved in the investigation that saw officers retrieve McKenzie's leg and place it in ice, where it was taken to a hospital.
Doctors hope to be able to reattach it while McKenzie undergoes an operation at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital. He was listed as being in serious but stable condition, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
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Further details updating McKenzie's condition weren't released to the press or the public, the paper reported.
A crowdfunding campaign was set up online to try and raise funds to help with McKenzie's medical procedures, which were likely to cost a significant amount of money.
Chief Inspector Stuart Campbell said police would be working "to try to locate that shark and identify what type of shark" attacked McKenzie, Seven News Australia reported.
Police said they were using drones to try and track the shark they believe attacked the surfer.
McKenzie, who is part of a family local to the area, had reportedly just returned to surfing after recovering from a broken neck before he was attacked by the shark.