‘We had no time’: Medics reveal how they saved Briton attacked by shark

Off-duty Swedish medics have told how they helped save the life of a British tourist after his foot was bitten off by a shark in Australia.

Alistair Raddon, 28, and Danny Maggs, 22, were on a day cruise and snorkelling near Hook Passage in the Whitsunday Islands, northern Queensland, when they were attacked by a shark.

Paramedic Billy Ludvigsson, who also happened to be on the cruise, explained how it was a race against time to save Mr Raddon’s life after he was bitten.

He said: “Back at home when I work in the ambulance we have time to prepare for the assignment, this time we didn’t.

“We had to make a makeshift tourniquet with ropes and towels to stop the bleeding.

“It was severe, life-threatening at first.

“But we managed to stop the bleeding pretty fast, actually, in a couple of minutes, maybe five minutes.”

His partner Emma Andersson, an emergency room nurse, said: “We didn’t have time to prepare. We started with the man who was worse first. The other man’s leg didn’t look so bad.

“The other man had lost his foot and we decided to work more with that, to stop his bleeding first.”

Mr Ludvigsson added: “I think that saved his life, because he was bleeding so badly.

The attack victims were brought seven miles by boat to the town of Airlie Beach on the Australian mainland, where more paramedics were waiting.

They were then taken by helicopter to a hospital in the city of Mackay, about 590 miles north of Brisbane, in serious but stable conditions.

Mr Raddon lost his foot in the attack, while Mr Maggs suffered serious lacerations to his calf.

The hospital says both men are in a stable condition.

RACQ CQ Rescue, which airlifted the men to hospital, said the pair had told the crew they had been “wrestling and thrashing” in the water when the attack happened.

ZigZag Whitsundays, operators of the tour the two men were on, said: “We are saddened to confirm that two of our guests were injured in a shark attack this morning. Our thoughts are with them, their families and the other guests on the tour.

“We are working with authorities to assist in any way we can. We have suspended our tours for today and will work closely with authorities regarding our upcoming tours.”

The shark attack comes almost a year after a Melbourne man was killed in the Whitsundays.

In September last year, a Tasmanian tourist and 12-year-old girl were attacked on consecutive days – the child lost a leg.

(c) Sky News 2019: ‘We had no time’: Medics reveal how they saved Briton attacked by shark