Australian drives mile for aid with shark attached to leg
February 12, 2004
SYDNEY -- An Australian swam 300 yards with a shark clamped to his leg before driving a mile for first aid to get the creature removed.
Luke Tresoglavic, 22, was snorkeling off a beach near Newcastle, 100 miles north of Sydney, when a wobbegong bit into his left leg.
Although wobbegongs are one of Australia's smaller shark species, the power of its jaws has earned it a reputation as the pit bull of the ocean.
After wrestling with the shark, Tresoglavic, a welder, staggered on to the beach, where two sunbathers tried to pry open the creature's mouth.
"They couldn't remove it," Tresoglavic said. "It was stuck there. I decided I had to get into the car.
"I was hurting like hell. The shark was thrashing around all over the place."
He wedged the 2-foot shark against the gear lever as he drove with one hand to a surf club.
Lifeguards there could not break the wobbegong's grip so they plunged it, still attached to Tresoglavic's leg, into a huge bucket of fresh water and drowned it. The species is unable to survive in anything but seawater.
Daily Telegraph
