For a coastal region, full of surfers and beach-lovers, the Illawarra’s shark attack history is relatively unmarked by serious incidents.
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Which is why many have already labelled Wednesday night’s incident – where Brett Connellan lost a large chunk of his left thigh at Bombo Beach – as the most serious in recent history.
Looking back through the archives the only shark encounter in Illawarra waters which comes close in severity to the 22-year-old’s harrowing experience was that of Ray Short, 50 years ago.
In February 1966, the then 13-year-old was dragged from the surf at Coledale Beach with a white pointer attached to his leg.
The shark attacked when the teenager headed out for one last afternoon surf, biting into the flesh of his left thigh. It released him, allowing him to start for the shore, but the shark attacked again, swallowing his leg up to his left knee. He got near the shore with the shark still attached to his leg, but with all the blood, sand and dirt kicked up in the water no-one on the beach could see anything.
One of the lifesavers had to feel down the boy’s leg and bumped into the nose of a shark before rescuers realised the beast’s jaws were still locked onto the limb.
Eventually as they picked the boy up, the shark slid off and – unable to stem the blood in time for an ambulance to arrive – rescuers threw Mr Short in a panel van to rush him to hospital.
The first fatal attack recorded in the Illawarra was on June 6, 1923, when Joe Rigby, 50, of Corrimal, was taken by a shark while fishing with three mates at Bellambi.
In more recent times – in 2009 – then 24-year-old Steven Fogarty was left with about 40 puncture wounds to his calf when he fought off a bull shark while snorkeling at Windang Bridge. The same year, grandfather Les Wade, then 52, required more than 50 stitches after being attacked by a bronze whaler at Seven Mile Beach on June 27.
Shark sightings have been frequent off the Illawarra and Shoalhaven coast this summer. More than 60 sharks were spotted near Wollongong and Shoalhaven beaches in the last week of December.
Just last week three fishermen were swept off a notorious rock platform at Port Kembla and plucked to safety as a shark lurked nearby.
