CAPE TOWN.
A British man lost parts of both legs when he was attacked by a great white shark Wednesday after he ignored warnings and went swimming at a Peninsula beach, authorities said.
The 42-year-old man apparently made it back toward shore at Fish Hoek beach and was pulled from the water by a bystander who left before he could be identified, according to the Press Association news agency.
An amateur video taken shortly after the attack was uploaded to YouTube and shows a shark still lurking in the water after the mauling victim was stabilized on the beach and airlifted to Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic in critical condition.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesman Craig Lambinon told The Telegraph of London that the man was swimming about 50 meters from shore when the shark attacked.
"It repeatedly bit at both of his legs and caused serious wounds on both the right and left side," he said.
When medical teams arrived, they found the swimmer with his right leg bitten off above the knee and the left leg below the knee," Lambinon said.
The victim was believed to live in the suburb of Plumstead.
Lambinon added that the man was conscious when paramedics attended to him on the beach, but was sedated on-scene by paramedics in their efforts to stabilize the patient.
Spotters had sighted the shark 90 minutes before the attack and closed the beach. The white shark flag was raised and the siren set off.
Cape Town officials told the South African Press Association that, when the man entered the water, the beach was still closed. A shark flag, indicating the presence of a great white, was flying.
A shark spotter stationed on the long beach was warned by a spotter on the mountain that someone had entered the water.
The spotter then ran to Clovelly Corner to try to get the swimmer out of the water, but the attack took place before he could reach him.
The victim of the attack was the only person in the water at the time.
The beach, together with another three nearby, was closed as a precaution until further notice.
The shark was still in Fish Hoek Bay in the afternoon and being monitored by the spotters.
What happened to the Shark Nets that use to be at Fish Hoek in the 70's and 80's?
Two men in their sixties who rescued a shark victim at Fish Hoek on Wednesday, told how they braved the blood-clouded water to bring him to safety.
Douglas Drysdale, 61, from Glencairn Heights, and Hugh Till, 66, from Fish Hoek were on their way home from Pollsmoor Prison, where they are voluntary spiritual guidance counsellors.
The two men, who were in one car, normally look out for whales as they round Clovelly Corner, said the NSRI's Craig Lambinon.
On Wednesday they saw a man, later identified as Michael Cohen, 43, swimming about 25m out to sea in the direction of Fish Hoek.
Then there was a dark shape, heading directly at him.
As the dark shape grew closer to the swimmer the two men realised it was a shark.
Drysdale and Till tried to warn the man, but they were too late, said Lambinon. He'd already been bitten by the shark and was struggling in the water, blood gushing from the wounds..
Human chain
Lambinon says the men kicked off their shoes and waded through the surf to reach the injured swimmer. Douglas had called the emergency services before plunging into the water.
When they reached the swimmer, Hugh grabbed him by the hand while Douglas pulled Hugh, dragging them both to shore.
Bystanders then started screaming at the men that the shark was now headed towards them.
It was about 10m away. Their luck held when a seal appeared and swam between the men and the shark.
As the men reached the beach one of the shark spotters immediately tied his belt around the stump of Cohen's severed right leg as a tourniquet.
The two men kept reassuring the victim as he waited for paramedics to arrive.