A 41-year-old Japanese surfer, Tadashi Nakahara, has died after a shark attack at Shelly Beach in Ballina, New South Wales. Witnesses reported that a very large shark severed both of his legs while he was waiting for a wave on his surfboard, about 10 metres from the shore.
Fellow surfers rushed to drag Nakahara to the beach and attempted to save his life using tourniquets and CPR. Despite their efforts, he died from rapid blood loss. Surfer Darren Rodgers, who performed CPR, described the scene as devastating and said he was in shock afterwards.
The attack occurred just 12 miles from where another surfer, Jabez Reitman, had been bitten by a shark hours earlier. Reitman sustained lacerations but was treated in hospital and reported in a stable condition. Ballina's mayor, David Wright, suggested the two incidents might be linked and called for action against the shark.
Shelly Beach was closed following the attack, and a search for the shark was launched. Wright expressed the community's shock, noting that Nakahara was a local man of Japanese origin who worked at a surf shop and as a cleaner. Fatal shark attacks remain rare in Australia, with fewer than two per year on average.
