When Towradgi lifesaver Matt Lumby heard someone in distress in the water at Lake Macquarie on Saturday evening, he initially thought it was a regular rescue.
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Instead, he found himself aiding a man who had suffered serious injuries from a shark bite.
Mr Lumby was visiting a friend in Yarrawonga Park and they headed out to go wake boarding, but had to return to his mate's waterfront home when he was called into work.
They were down at the water, letting the children have a swim, when they saw splashing about 200 to 300 metres away and heard a man "moaning and screaming".
Mr Lumby ran along the shore and into the water, despite the yells of "Shark" from bystanders.
The off-duty lifesaver said he knew the situation was "very, very serious" when he reached the man and saw the damage to his arm.
Mr Lumby and the man's wife, a doctor, carried the man to shore.
While they were taking him out of the water, Mr Lumby yelled out to bystanders to get a first aid kit and belt ready.
By the time they got to shore, he said, a belt was ready for them.
Mr Lumby used this as a tourniquet and applied pressure to the artery while the man's wife supported his arm, until paramedics arrived.
As a lifesaver, Mr Lumby had carried out plenty of rescues and dealt with serious cuts and the like, but this was his first incident involving a shark.
But he did not give a thought to the potentially deadly animal as he rushed into the water to retrieve the injured man.
To me, it was just a normal rescue. I didn't think about a shark at all, it was just, 'Get to the man and help him'.
- Matt Lumby, Towradgi lifesaver
"To me, it was just a normal rescue. I didn't think about a shark at all, it was just, 'Get to the man and help him'," Mr Lumby said.
The scariest moment for him, he said, was actually appearing on Seven's national breakfast program Sunrise on Monday morning.
Mr Lumby did not catch a glimpse of the shark, but the victim told him it was broad-nosed, brown, and about as big as him.
He credits his ability to keep a level head and aid the man to the skills he has acquired through surf lifesaving.
Mr Lumby said he had grown up with surf lifesaving, and over the years had undertaken training and first aid competitions.
The scenarios he had faced in these situations, he said, helped him a lot in keeping calm and getting through the emergency.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Grahame Rathbone said the efforts to aid the man might have saved his life, AAP reported.
"Bystanders did a great job applying a makeshift tourniquet before paramedic crews arrived," Inspector Rathbone said.
"This was potentially life-saving for the patient."
The man was airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, where he remained in a stable condition on Monday.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
