WARNING: Distressing content
A witness has revealed the “surreal” moment neighbours rushed to help a woman who was seriously injured in a shark attack in Sydney Harbour.
Lauren O’Neill, 29, was swimming at a private wharf at Billyard Avenue, Elizabeth Bay just before 8pm when she was bitten on her right leg.
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NSW Ambulance said O’Neill suffered critical injuries and severe blood loss from injuries to her lower leg.
Witness Michael Porter had just arrived home from work when he heard a yell for help from outside.
He said he saw O’Neill “propped up on the external ladder of the harbour pool coming out of the water and behind her was dark red blood”.
“It was a completely surreal experience,” he told Sunrise.
Porter immediately grabbed his phone and ran outside to call triple-0, as other neighbours rushed to help.
“We went straight down to her, we were by her side reassuring her that everything was going to be OK,” he said.
“Within seconds, many more neighbours came down with towels.
“People were holding her hand, people were talking to her to keep her awake.
“She was extremely brave.”
Among those helping was vet Fiona, whom Porter credited with saving O’Neill’s life by applying a tourniquet to her leg to stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived.
“Fiona is an absolute hero,” Porter said.
“My wife’s a vet and she basically bandaged it up,” Fiona’s wife told 7NEWS.
“The bone’s broken, it’s pretty hectic but she seems to be OK.
“She’s in a lot of shock, we kept her warm.”
Had O’Neill been further out in the water, “she wouldn’t have survived”, she added.
The vet was also lauded by Deputy Premier Prue Car as a “legend” and Health Minister Ryan Park for having “quite possibly saved (a) life”.
Park also thanked first responders and hospital staff who had “literally performed a miracle and kept this person alive”.
A rescue helicopter was on standby, but O’Neill was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital by road and was in a stable condition as of Tuesday morning.
7NEWS understands she will undergo surgery later on Tuesday.
‘Stay out’
An analysis of the bite pattern led government officials to positively identify the predator as a bull shark.
Shark bites in Sydney Harbour are extremely rare but the area is an important habitat for adult and sub-adult bull sharks.
Bond University Associate Professor of Environmental Science and shark expert Dr Daryl McPhee said the species could be found in the harbour at this time of year.
“Bull sharks are one of the three large species mostly responsible for serious bites and fatalities, the other two being the white shark and the tiger shark,” McPhee said.
“Bull sharks are found seasonally in Sydney Harbour during the warmer months of the year.”
The sharks are generally found in water less than 5m deep near sharp drop-offs, McPhee added.
“While the risk of a shark bite is extremely low, I advise people to stay out of Sydney Harbour waters until further notice by the government,” he said.
Police said Marine Area Command are patrolling the area as a precaution.
– With AAP