‘Strange coincidence’ saved Sydney shark attack victim Lauren O’Neill who risked bleeding to death after horror mauling

A SWIMMER savaged by a shark was saved by a quick-thinking vet following a “strange coincidence” as blood poured out of her leg.

Lauren O’Neill, 29, was rushed to hospital after the beast mauled her in Sydney Harbour on Monday.

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Lauren O’Neill was rushed to hospital after a shark mauled her leg[/caption]

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Emergency services rallied around the swimmer as blood poured from her right leg[/caption]

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The swimmer is in a stable condition in hospital[/caption]

The keen kayaker suffered major blood loss as she frantically tried to climb up a jetty ladder at Elizabeth Bay after being bitten by a shark.

Michael Porter, who lives in the area, said he heard Lauren cry out as she clung to the ladder at about 7.45pm local time.

He told The Sydney Morning Herald: “She was trying to climb in and behind her was her leg, which was completely open and full of dark red blood behind her.”

With blood pouring from her wound, vet Fiona Crago – who lives in an apartment overlooking a private wharf in the bay – quickly applied a bandage to ease the flow as Mr Porter rang the emergency services.

Shocking pictures show Lauren lying on the jetty surrounded by worried passersby.

Ms Crago ran down to the scene after grabbing two compression bandages her wife Georgia had only bought that day.

The quick-thinking former lawyer told Channel 10: “She was severely mauled on her right leg and she was losing a lot of blood.

“Neighbours had already started to render first aid to her. We had quite a few people that were so helpful.

“People were throwing down towels and blankets to keep her warm but I just focused on what I had to do, which was to stem the blood flow and bandage the leg as best I can with what I had and just stabilise it. And then put a tourniquet on.

“I’m in no way heroic, I just did my job and I just did what I was trained to do.”

Ms Crago said it just happened to be a “coincidence” that she had bandages.

As a vet, she usually carried them with her but did not have any as she had recently swapped cars.

She said: “But as a strange coincidence, my wife had actually gone up the road and bought two new compression bandages yesterday for another purpose, so I knew exactly where they were and just grabbed them, so it was quite lucky.”

Mr Porter added: “She was extremely brave, she was very brave through the whole thing.

“She was lucid and knew everything that was going on, and as she started to lose blood she started to lose a little bit of consciousness.

“But we just followed the triple zero respondent’s advice to try and keep her awake.

“It was surreal, we’ve always been worried and known about sharks in the harbour. It’s only now that it feels very real.”

Lauren was dashed to St Vincent Hospital, where she remains in a stable condition.

Councillor Linda Scott has urged swimmers to “stay out” of the water following the horror attack.

She said on Monday: “I’m extremely concerned to learn of a shark attack in our City of Sydney this evening.

“A woman has received severe injuries as a result of an attack near Billyear, Elizabeth Bay.

“Please, stay out of the harbour until further notice.”

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Vet Fiona Crago helped Lauren before paramedics arrived[/caption]

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Lauren was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital[/caption]

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Blood was seen on pieces of clothing and right by the deck stairs[/caption]

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Paramedics carried the victim on a stretcher before putting her in the ambulance[/caption]