Teen Aussie surfer recounts chilling moment a huge shark bit his leg at Pyramids beach in Western Australia before the animal swam away

A young Australian surfer has recounted the horrifying moment he was bitten by a shark while surfing off the coast of Dawesville, Western Australia on Tuesday.

Zachary Hlaing, 15, was surfing at Pyramids beach at around 5.40am this morning when he felt ‘something latch onto his leg’.

The surfer realised that he had been bitten by a big shark and is now reportedly awaiting surgery after he had been left with six deep cuts to his left leg and foot. He is though in a stable condition at the Peel Health Campus.

According to The West Australian , the surfer has ‘several pieces of the shark’s tooth or possibly bone’ lodged in his leg, following the incident.

‘It all happened so fast,’ he told 7NEWS reporters outside the Peel Health Campus.

‘I just felt something grab my leg and then it kind of shook it a little bit and let go,’ he added.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 

He had been waiting to catch a wave, when the incident occurred, with the 15-year-old surfer revealing the shark had splashed its tail before swimming off.

WA authorities have said that the shark was 2m long, but the animal’s species has not yet been identified yet.

‘We saw a big tail just flap up and a big splash and then it let go and swam off,’ the teen said.

After the shark had swam away, the teenager, who admitted he had been in shock, began paddling back to shore.

‘I was just in shock. We hopped on the boards and started paddling – kind of didn’t think anything of it really, just went in,’ he said.

‘(It) didn’t really hurt or anything because I was still in shock.’

Despite the chilling encounter with the shark, Hlaing has not been put off from getting back in the water. 

‘I’ve been surfing pretty much my whole life because Dad got me into it and we live near the beach, so it’s pretty much all I do in the summer,’ the 15-year-old added.

‘Maybe I won’t go to the same spot for a while but as soon as I can I’ll be out there.’

He has been praised by local Jay Reeves, who was also about to enter the water with his board, before he had been alerted by one of the Hlaing’s group to the incident.

Reeves said he had carried the young surfer up the beach towards his car, wrapping his leg in a towel to stem the bleeding before rushing him to hospital. 

‘He got back on his board and started paddling and was just calm as anything,” Mr Reeves said to The West Australian.

‘When he lifted his foot out you could see the blood dripping from his foot on his calf. He had a laceration and a cut onto his foot as well.

‘I left the boys to start the car because they had come on pushbikes.

‘I ran over as he’s come out with blood dripping so I put him on my back and ran to the car. I got his foot wrapped up in a towel and chucked him in the car and took him straight to hospital.’

The City of Mandurah rangers have subsequently closed Pyraminds beach to 1km of either side of where the incident took place. 

Reeves was also left enamoured by the young surfer, calling him the ‘gnarliest little dude’, claiming that he did not panic one bit after realising the nature of his injuries. 

‘He was the gnarliest little dude. He was absolutely so chill,’ he said.

‘I think the fact he was so relaxed and we just had to make sure he was ok so there was no panic at all.’

If you see a shark, report it to Water Police on 9442 8600

More to follow…