Shark attack victim saved by teenage best friend in this heroic act

17-year-old Luke Pascoe was on a fishing trip off Mistaken Island - an island about five kilometres southeast of Albany. On Monday 15 August, he was bitten by what he believes to be a great white shark of about five metres in length. Luckily, he was accompanied by his friend Conner Shirley, who showed remarkable composure in the midst of the incident.

A makeshift tourniquet to stem the loss of blood

When he realised that his friend had been bitten by a shark, Conner immediately sprang into action. Luke told ABC Australia, Australia's national public broadcaster:

It was Conner who helped me onto the rock and he walked me 2km along the rocks to the car and drove me to the hospital. I was lying in bed last night thinking how lucky I was to still be here.

Conner, meanwhile, says he made a makeshift tourniquet out of a diving belt to stem Luke's blood loss.

First aid at school actually taught me a couple of things

'More my fault than the shark's'

'He especially started bleeding when I pulled him out of the water,' continues Conner. For his part, Luke, who suffered three lacerations on his lower legs, believes that this attack was 'more (his) fault than the shark's'.

According to him, it was because he had just killed a fish at a depth of about 10 metres that the shark was attracted. And while he is certainly not about to forget this mishap, he is now 'a little sore' but in good spirits, and is already planning to return to the sea.

This article was translated from Gentside FR.

Read more:

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⋙ Shark attacks prey a few meters away from swimmers (VIDEOS)

⋙ Shark swims dangerously close to two people without them realising it (PHOTOS)