A 59-year-old Queensland man has undergone emergency surgery in hospital in the state’s north after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing off Lucinda.
Paramedics were called to Britomart Reef, around 140km north of Townsville, at around noon yesterday, responding to a distress beacon.
59-year-old Richard Bettua, of South Mission Beach, had been spearfishing with a friend when it’s understood a shark attacked him, biting his thigh.
Bleeding heavily from what paramedics have described as a “catastrophic” wound, the man was brought back to shore at Dungeness Boatramp.
“On arrival, he didn’t have a pulse, so I would say that’s not a good place to be in,” said Queensland Ambulance Service supervisor, Ray Hardy.
It took emergency crews more than hour to stabilise Mr Bettua, before he was airlifted to Townsville Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.
