Teen in critical condition after shark attack at Sydney beach

A boy is in critical condition at a hospital in New South Wales, Australia, after he was attacked by a shark at a beach.

The attack occurred around 4.20 pm on Sunday in the waters near Shark Beach at Nielsen Park in Vaucluse, a suburb in Sydney’s eastern region.

Emergency services soon arrived at the scene to respond to reports of a boy being bitten by a shark.

The boy suffered injuries to both legs and was transported to the Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick, NSW Ambulance Service said.

The NSW police said the “teenage boy is in a critical condition in hospital after being bitten by a shark”.

“The injuries are consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark,” it added.

The police added that the boy was rescued by the officers from Marine Area Command and Eastern Suburbs Police “within minutes of the call being made”.

The boy was immediately given first aid on board the police vessel for serious leg injuries before being transported to Rose Bay wharf, where NSW Ambulance Paramedics continued first aid.

The boy had been jumping off rocks and was swimming in the water, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Video from the scene showed the boy being treated by paramedics in a blue police rescue tent.

Police said Shark Beach was closed and advised swimmers to avoid going into the water. It is believed that the boy was swimming outside the net enclosure of the beach when he was attacked by the shark.

Shark Beach in Nielsen Park, Vaucluse, on Sydney Harbour has a shark net that was damaged during the massive flooding in April last year and the repairs were finished in early December.

Australia typically records around 15 to 20 shark attacks each year, most of them occurring in New South Wales and Western Australia.

In September last year, a 57-year-old surfer, Mercury Psillakis, was killed at Long Reef beach near Dee Why in Sydney following a shark attack.

A few months later, a Swiss couple was attacked by a shark at Kylies Beach in the Crowdy Bay National Park. The woman died, and the man suffered serious injuries.