Surfer’s leg washes up on shore after shark attack

(CNN) — A surfer’s leg that was severed by a shark attack on Tuesday later washed up on an Australian beach, where a police officer retrieved it and put on ice.

CNN affiliate 7News reported that Kai McKenzie, a 23-year-old surfer, was mauled by a shark in the water off North Shore Beach in Port Macquarie – a small town about 400 kilometers (249 miles) north of Sydney.

McKenzie tried to fight off the shark, which severed his right leg, and was able to ride a wave back to the beach, bleeding heavily, before the quick thinking of a retired police officer on a dog walk saved his life, 7News reported an official as saying.

“He used the lead from the dog as a tourniquet to wrap around the young man’s leg and essentially saved his life until paramedics got there,” said NSW Ambulance Service Hastings South duty manager Kirran Mowbray.

The New South Wales Police confirmed to CNN that emergency services had attended the scene of a “reported shark attack.”

McKenzie underwent surgery at the John Hunter Hospital in the nearby city of Newcastle, where he remains in stable condition, according to a GoFund Me set up a neighbor of his family.

The severed leg was also taken to the hospital in case doctors were able to reattach it, 7News reported.

McKenzie was just returning to the waves after breaking his back last year, surfwear brand Rage, which sponsors him, said on Instagram .

“Sending love to … the toughest person that we know,” the company said. “He has been through a lot breaking his back last year, he never once complained always just got on with doing what he loved as soon as possible. He is an inspiring person.”

A long stretch of the beaches in Port Macquarie was closed for 24 hours after the shark attack, according to the town’s lifeguards , before they reopened on Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities are trying to track and identify the shark, NSW Police Chief Inspector Stuart Campbell said, according to 7News, using drones and SMART drumlines – a type of trap that can move sharks without killing them.

There are several shark monitoring devices on the coastline at Port Macquarie. These detected two white sharks in the area on Tuesday morning before the attack.

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