Elizabeth Bay, Sydney Harbor Shark Attack: A Hero Veterinarian's Fight to Save Bull Shark Victim Lauren O'Neill
A young woman mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor was saved by a quick-thinking vet who used a tourniquet to stop her bleeding.
Emergency services rushed to a private boatyard in Elizabeth Bay at 7.45pm on Monday and found 29-year-old Lauren O'Neill with a serious bite to her right leg and suffering from extensive blood loss.
Hero vet Fiona Crago and her wife Georgia, who live on the dock, heard a scream from the victim.
“We ran out, my wife is a vet, she actually bandaged it… the bone is broken, it's quite hectic actually,” Georgia said.
Hero vet Fiona Crago (pictured above) applied a tourniquet to the leg of Lauren O'Neill (below), 29, on Monday evening before emergency services arrived on the scene
“It looks like she's okay, she's in shock. Me, too.
“We kept her warm, and my wife actually bandaged her up to stop the bleeding.
'If she had been bitten there (further), she would not have survived.'
Ms Crago, who works at a veterinary practice in Bundanoon in the NSW Southern Highlands, was a lawyer for 30 years before retraining as a vet 10 years ago.
A friend of the couple said Mrs O'Neill owed her life to them.
“Fiona knew what she was doing tonight, if it wasn't for her and her wife Georgia, the poor victim would have died,” the friend said.
One resident said there was 'blood everywhere' (Photo: Mrs O'Neill on the dock)
Mrs. Crago with her wife Georgia
'I'm so proud of them, they deserve an award. That girl was lucky they were home tonight.”
Mrs O'Neill was taken by ambulance to St Vincent's Hospital where she remains in a stable condition.
Elizabeth Bay resident Michael Porter, who called triple zero, also praised Ms Crago.
“She was an absolute hero… and I think she saved her life,” he told the Today Show.
“She had wraps and tourniquets and immediately went into emergency mode, and we were all there together as a team.”
Mr Porter said Ms O'Neill was swimming outside a 'harbour pool with nets' and 'swam around the boats'.
Emergency services rushed to Elizabeth Bay at 7.45pm on Monday to find Ms O'Neill with a serious bite to her leg and 'major blood loss'. A blood-stained boardwalk is depicted at the scene
Ms O'Neill is being treated by paramedics after the attack
“Her leg was dragging behind her a little bit, and the water behind her was all red with blood.
He added that despite being in a “complete state of shock” from the trauma of the attack, Ms O'Neill was “very lucid”.
“People held her hand and helped her, and she was extremely brave the whole time,” he said.
'She had severe bleeding. Her injuries are serious,” a NSW Ambulance spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Monday evening.
Ms O'Neill studied science at the University of Sydney and works for the NSW Government in the Department of Climate Change.
Since 2012, when she was 15, she has volunteered for various charities and organizations.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms O'Neill has dedicated her time to the SES, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Pink Ribbon Day, Daffodil Day and Spinal Cord Injury Australia.
She has served meals to the homeless, helped create a map of wheelchair-accessible public restrooms, and walked foster dogs.