SYDNEY (AP) — A professional surfer was mauled by a shark off the Australian east coast on Wednesday evening, officials said. 
 
 Brett Connellan, 22, was flown by helicopter to Sydney's St. George Hospital in serious condition after he was attacked 120 kilometers (75 miles) to the south off a beach near Kiama, a police statement said. 
 
 He sustained injuries to a thigh and a hand in the attack off Bombo Beach at 7 p.m. and was helped 100 meters (yards) to shore by a fellow surfer, Joel Trist, police said. 
 
 Trist told reporters on Thursday he paddled as fast as he could toward his friend when he heard him scream. The shark had vanished before Trist covered the 50 meters (yards). 
 
 "I said to him: 'What's it like?' and he said: 'It's not good.' And at that point I knew something was horribly wrong," Trist said. 
 
 Trist said he dragged his friend on to Trist's board and the pair caught a wave to shore. 
 
 Ambulance Service spokesman Terry Morrow said two beachgoers who were off-duty nurses saved Connellan's life by applying a tourniquet made from a surfboard leg rope to his upper thigh before paramedics reached the scene. 
 
 "He had lost a large proportion of his left thigh, and the quad muscle was torn away right down to the bone," Terry Morrow told the Illawarra Mercury newspaper. 
 
 "He could've bled to death before we arrived on scene. He was very lucky the members of the public were there and acted as they did," Morrow said. 
 
 Connellan did not see the shark. Experts are examining his wounds to determine its size and species. ||||| UPDATE: All beaches in the Kiama council area are closed after Wednesday's shark attack at Bombo Beach. 
 
 Beaches closed after Bombo shark attack A Kiama lifeguard patrols Bombo Beach after a surfer was attacked by a shark on Wednesday night. Picture: SYLVIA LIBER 
 
 Friends of Brett Connellan, Joel Trist and Agie Kvowka, who helped save him after Wednesday night's shark attack. Picture: SYLVIA LIBER 
 
 Kiama beaches remain closed after a surfer was attacked by a shark on Wednesday night. Picture: SYLVIA LIBER 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shark attack: Paramedics and rescue helicopter crews attend to a 22-year-old man who was attacked by a shark at Bombo Beach on Wednesday night. Picture: Sylvia Liber. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 4.30pm: For a coastal region, full of surfers and beach-lovers, the Illawarra’s shark attack history is relatively unmarked by serious incidents. 
 
 Which is why many have already labelled Wednesday night’s incident – where Brett Connellan lost a large chunk of his left thigh at Bombo Beach– as the most serious in recent history. 
 
 Looking back through the archives the only shark encounter in Illawarra waters which comes close in severity to the 22-year-old’s harrowing experience was that of Ray Short, 50 years ago. 
 
 
 
 Read more here 
 
 3.30pm: From his hospital bed, Kiama shark attack victim Brett Connellan has asked that his ordeal not be used as cause for a shark hunt. 
 
 Read more here 
 
 11.45am: A surfer who paddled furiously towards his friend who had just been bitten by a shark at Bombo Beach has described how the seriously injured man told him in the water that his condition was "not good". 
 
 Read more here 
 
 11.40am: Lindsay Lyon, the managing director of Shark Shield, said the average for shark attacks is just 6.6 a year – and that’s around the world. 
 
 “We give them lots of coverage but they’re rare. There are over 300 drownings at Australian beaches annually, but shark attacks are a rare occurrence.” 
 
 
 
 Read more here 
 
 11.35am: 
 
 11.10am: A NSW Fisheries boat will patrol Bombo Beach on Thursday, as authorities work to identify the shark responsible for an attack on a young surfer. The move comes as Kiama council lifeguards conduct jet-ski patrols in the water off the beach. 
 
 Bombo, Jones, Surf, Kendalls and Easts beaches have been closed and are expected to remain that way for at least another 24 hours. 
 
 
 
 Read more here 
 
 10.38am: Joel Trist paddled straight out to his mate Brett Connellan in a bid to save him from a shark attack at Bombo Beach on Wednesday night. 
 
 
 
 Vision courtesy ABC News 24. 
 
 10.22am: All beaches in the Kiama council area are closed on Thursday morning, and are expected remain that way for at least another 24 hours, following Wednesday's shark attack at Bombo Beach. 
 
 More to come 
 
 Earlier: Beachgoers have been praised for saving a young surfer from bleeding to death after he was attacked by a shark at Bombo Beach on Wednesday night. 
 
 
 
 Brett Connellan, 22, from Kiama Downs was surfing off the northern end of the beach at about 7pm, when he was attacked about 100 metres off shore, police said. 
 
 
 
 He was assisted to the beach by a friend who reportedly heard him screaming from the water. 
 
 
 
 Ambulance NSW Illawarra district officer Inspector Terry Morrow said the quick actions of onlookers, who put an arterial tourniquet around his severed thigh, had saved his life. 
 
 
 
 Shark leaves surfer with serious injuries. Video: SMH 
 
 “He had lost a large proportion of his left thigh, and the quad muscle was torn away right down to the bone,” Insp Morrow said. 
 
 
 
 “He could’ve bled to death before we arrived on scene. He was very lucky the members of the public were there and acted as they did. They saved his life, to tell you the truth.” 
 
 After paramedics arrived, the ambulance rescue helicopter was flown from Bankstown to attend to the man. 
 
 
 
 He was given a blood transfusion and treated for pain on scene before being airlifted to St George Hospital in a serious but stable condition. 
 
 
 
 “He’s alive, well and stable, so I’d say he’s a very lucky young man and it’s a matter of now allowing surgeons to do what they do best,” Insp Morrow said. 
 
 As the dramatic scene unfolded on Wednesday night dozens of onlookers – mostly young men –gathered at the beach, visibily shaken by the evening’s events. 
 
 
 
 After the incident was reported, a number of Mercury readers said they had watched seagulls diving after bait fish at Bombo on Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 NSW Surf Life Saving spokeswoman Donna Wishart said “our recommendation is not to risk it” if there was evidence of these smaller fish around. 
 
 “Generally our recommendation has been that dawn and dusk can be risk periods, although in recent months there have been attacks outside these times,” she said. 
 
 She noted shark bites were “still extremely rare and it’s an incredibly low risk that you’ll ever come into contact with a shark”. 
 
 Ms Wishart said a beach where a shark attack had occurred would generally be closed for 24 hours. 
 
 
 
 Brett Connellan, who was bitten by a shark at Bombo Beach, is an experienced local surfer. Photo: Facebook 
 
 She said unpatrolled Bombo Beach would likely be signposted by council lifeguards and volunteers on Thursday to alert swimmers of the attack. 
 
 “Department of Primary Industries experts will also be able to assess from the wound what size and species the shark is, and then we’ll go from there,” she said. 
 
 Crews from Kiama SES and Lake Illawarra Police also attended the incident.
– A professional surfer was mauled by a shark off Australia's east coast on Wednesday evening, officials say. Brett Connellan, 22, was flown by helicopter to Sydney's St. George Hospital in serious condition after he was attacked 75 miles to the south, off a beach near Kiama, a police statement said, per the AP. He sustained injuries to a thigh and a hand in the attack off Bombo Beach at 7pm and was helped more than 100 yards to shore by fellow surfer Joel Trist, police say. Trist told reporters on Thursday he paddled as fast as he could toward his friend when he heard him scream. The shark had vanished before Trist covered the 50 yards to Connellan. "I said to him: 'What's it like?' and he said: 'It's not good.' And at that point I knew something was horribly wrong," Trist said. Ambulance Service spokesman Terry Morrow says two beachgoers who were off-duty nurses saved Connellan's life by applying a tourniquet made from a surfboard leg rope to his upper thigh before paramedics reached the scene. "He had lost a large proportion of his left thigh, and the quad muscle was torn away right down to the bone," Morrow tells the Illawarra Mercury. "He could've bled to death before we arrived on scene. He was very lucky the members of the public were there and acted as they did." (Last year saw a record number of shark attacks, though there were only six deaths.)