Mossel Bay surfer dies after Glentana Bay shark attack

Shark News Gerhard van Zyl bleeds to death after lower leg is bitten off Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 31 August, 2009 : - - A surfer had his lower leg bitten off by a shark while surfing at Glentana Bay in the southern Cape on Saturday, and died later in hospital. Gerhard van Zyl, 25, a Mossel Bay local, was surfing with a friend at the small seaside village when he was attacked. National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon said they were called out around 3.30pm, soon after the attack. Van Zyl's lower right leg had been bitten almost completely off. When authorities arrived, a friend had pulled him out of the water, and had helped to tie a tourniquet around his injured leg. Lambinon said NSRI volunteers, ER24 paramedic services, Netcare 911, the police, Metro ambulance and rescue services and a Red Cross AMS helicopter had been called to the beach. "We found him on the beach and treated him for amputation to his right leg," said Lambinon. "He was airlifted to a hospital in George and when he got there, was declared to be in a critical condition. He was later declared dead." Van Zyl's father, who was in Cape Town at the time of the incident, was travelling back to Mossel Bay to identify his son's body, the police said. Southern Cape Surfing chairman Mike Sheppard said Glentana Bay was fast becoming a popular surfing spot. This was the first recorded shark attack there that he had heard of. "It is an active stretch of beach. Surfers are making use of it more and more, but this is the first we've heard of a shark attack there," he said. The attack, said Sheppard, had left the entire local surfing community rattled. "Everyone's emotional, it's a very sad day for us. You have lots of people surfing here each day and this really hits home for us." Robin de Kock, general manager of Surfing SA, said that while shark attacks were traumatic for surfers, they were a very rare occurrence. Surfers were aware of the dangers of the sport, he said. "This is a terrible tragedy, and without detracting from that fact, it must be said that it is a very rare occurrence. If you're a surfer, shark attacks are one of the risks you're aware of," said De Kock Related reports: South African Surfer Killed in Shark Attack Family Struggles To Cope After Shark Attack