Young surfer – Alejo, 20, says a sudden strike while he waited to catch a wave off NSW turned into a shark attack that tore through skin and muscle, ruptured a tendon, and left him racing back to shore before help arrived by ambulance time.
When Alejo felt the hit on his foot in the water, he didn’t even have time to process what was happening. He says it all unfolded in “incredibly fast” seconds, with “more than two seconds” between the bite and his reaction.
The 20-year-old, Uruguay-born and living in Australia for almost two years, was sitting on his surfboard expecting a wave a few days ago when his foot was struck. He wrote on Facebook that the impact turned into a shark biting him while he was still in the water.
“Everything happened incredibly fast – I don’t think more than two seconds passed between the bite and my reaction,” Alejo wrote. “It pulled me into the water, and my immediate response was to kick it as hard as I could to make it let go.”
Alejo said he believes the animal became tangled in his surfboard leash. In his account, the leash separated from the board during the attack. Once the shark let go, he described how he pushed forward the only way he could—by swimming as quickly as possible toward the board and the shore.
“Once it let go, I swam as fast as I could towards my board and the shore, which luckily were in the same direction,” he wrote. He said the moments that followed felt “extremely intense” because he didn’t know whether the shark would return. For him, the focus became simple: get out of the water.
By the time Alejo reached the shore, he was met by friends who were nearby. He said they helped immediately and applied a tourniquet until an ambulance arrived.
“Fortunately, my friends were nearby. As soon as I reached the shore, they helped me immediately and applied a tourniquet until the ambulance arrived,” Alejo said. “I’m incredibly grateful to them for acting so quickly and staying calm under pressure.”
He later described the injuries in precise terms. The bite tore through skin and muscle, ruptured one tendon, and damaged a few others, but missed any major arteries. Even with that damage, his survival has been paired with gratitude rather than anger.
Despite the ordeal, Alejo said he doesn’t blame the shark.
“I also want to say something that is important to me: I don’t hold any resentment towards the shark,” Alejo said. “The ocean is its home, and we are the ones entering its environment.”
He emphasized that incidents like this are extremely rare, but the risk is always present for people who go into the water.
“As surfers, swimmers and ocean users, we all know that even though incidents like this are extremely rare, the risk is always there,” he said.
For Alejo, the experience has reshaped what matters next. He says he is now focused on recovery and getting back on his feet, adding that the attack has given him “an even greater appreciation for life, my friends, and everyone who helped me that day.”
Alejo shark attack NSW surfer Uruguay Australia surfboard leash tourniquet ambulance tendon injury
Surfers acting like sharks don’t live there… smh.
Okay but “more than two seconds” like that’s a measurement?? Glad he’s okay though. Also why was he just sitting there waiting, wouldn’t you paddle away?
I saw something about these leashes before… like they’re basically a fish attractor or something? If it got tangled then yeah that tracks. But also he said he kicked it and it pulled him in? That sounds like it was super aggressive for a tendon, idk.
This is wild. I’m not saying sharks are evil but surfers always go out like it’s their private pool. If the leash separated, how did that even happen—like the board just yeeted the leash off? I feel bad, but also can’t help thinking he probably should’ve been wearing something more protective than… just a foot out there.