Chaos amid the calm: Woman killed, man mauled by shark on remote NSW beach

By midday, the chaos of the morning had left the idyllic Kylies Beach campground, four hours north of Sydney.

Hours earlier, the thrum of a rescue helicopter and the arrival of a fleet of emergency services vehicles cut through the quiet as police and paramedics responded to reports a shark had mauled two people about 6.30am.

The couple, Swiss tourists aged in their 20s, had been swimming near a rock formation at the northern end of Crowdy Bay, in Crowdy Bay National Park, when they were attacked on Thursday morning.

Police are reviewing the couple’s GoPro footage, which captured dolphins in the water moments before the shark, believed to be a three-metre bull shark, attacked the woman. Her partner is believed to have tried to fight off the shark before being mauled himself. It is unclear if the attack was captured on camera.

Police have contacted the Consulate General of Switzerland in Sydney and were working to contact the couple’s family abroad.

Authorities praised the quick thinking of witnesses who potentially saved the life of the man by tying a makeshift tourniquet around his injured leg. Despite the efforts of those witnesses, the woman could not be saved and died on the beach. The man was flown to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition.

“The courage from some bystanders is amazing in this situation,” NSW Ambulance superintendent Josh Smyth said.

“Very heroic, and [it] obviously did give us time to get to that male patient.”

Campers said the couple had arrived at the Mid North Coast campsite late on Wednesday night and set out for an early morning swim at the unpatrolled beach at first light on Thursday.

News of the attack quickly spread through the campground as authorities closed Kylies Beach and surrounding swimming spots and began searching for the shark involved.

Drumlines were deployed in the hopes of catching the shark, police said, with drones searching from above. The Department of Primary Industries said forensic evidence suggested a bull shark over three metres long could have attacked the pair. A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Kylies Beach and surrounding beaches will remain closed until at least Friday morning, Surf Life Saving NSW said in a statement.

“This area is so remote, there’s no life-guarding services up there at all,” its chief executive Steven Pearce told 2GB.

The closest surf club is located at Crowdy Head, at Crowdy Bay’s southern end.

“These incidents are horrific for everyone and, unfortunately, we’ve had a few this year already,” Pearce said.

Mid North Coast lifeguard co-ordinator James Turnham said the secluded beach was a popular swimming spot.

“We obviously want them to be aware of the risks. Obviously, sharks are one of those risks at these non-controlled locations,” he said.

By the late Thursday afternoon, the peaceful getaways of retirees, young couples, friends and solo travellers had fallen back into sync. The only sign of tragedy at the small campground was the police tape strung across the entrance to Kylies Beach, named for novelist and journalist Kylie Tennant, who used a nearby hut as a writer’s retreat.

Nearby remained the sprawling lawns dotted with swags, tents, caravans, a throng of journalists, and campers struggling to grasp a tragedy seldom seen at the beachside paradise many have escaped to for years.

“You just don’t expect these sorts of things to happen here,” said Peter Davey, who has been camping and fishing in the area for decades.

Davey, like other campers, suspected a medical episode when emergency services descended on the remote campground, accessed via rough gravel roads, on Thursday morning.

“I wasn’t thinking it was a shark attack,” Davey said.

Davey said he had previously seen several shark species including great whites and tiger sharks in the waters around Kylies Beach, but never one close to shore where the attack was believed to have taken place.

Shark receivers, which ping when a tagged animal swims within 500 metres, are in place at 37 beaches along the NSW coast between Tweed Heads and Bega. There is no receiver at Kylies Beach, with the closest located at Old Bar, about 30 kilometres south.

Thursday’s attack comes almost three months after 57-year-old surfer Mercury Psillakis died after he was mauled by a shark at Dee Why on Sydney’s northern beaches in September. His widow, Maria Psillakis, has called for an overhaul of alert systems at Sydney beaches.

Federal MP Alison Penfold, whose electorate of Lyne covers Kylies Beach, said she was “deeply heartbroken” by the attack.

“I cannot imagine the pain and shock that family and loved ones are going through right now,” she said.

“I extend my deepest condolences to them and the wider Crowdy community in what is a devastatingly tragic loss of life.”

The state member for Port Macquarie, Robert Dwyer, said it was a heartbreaking day for the community.

“I want to thank the people who stepped in straight away and the first responders who pushed through tough conditions to do everything they could.”

While the local community grappled with Thursday’s tragedy, camper Tomas Christensen reflected on a potentially life-saving decision.

Minutes before the attack, Christensen, 60, had been moments from setting out for a morning swim when he decided to make a cup of coffee. Before he had finished drinking it, a stream of ambulance and police vehicles had flowed into the campground with lights flashing, the Sutherland Shire resident said.

“Everyone’s sad,” Christensen said, his Cronulla Sharks cap – removed after news of the attack made it back to the campsite – sitting nearby.

“The whole campsite’s come together over it.”

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