An 11-year-old boy bitten by a shark off the coast of Western Australia has a long road to recover and get back home to Tasmania.
Archie Blake was attacked while snorkelling in waters off Kurrajong Campsite in the Cape Range National Park near Exmouth on Saturday afternoon.
It was supposed to be a holiday of a lifetime for the family, planned over four years and delayed and cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a family friend.
Instead, Archie was bitten on the leg by what one witness described as a "decent shark".
"We dragged the boy up further onto the beach," he said.
"I think it was a rash shirt we used to just apply pressure to one of the bite marks."
The 11-year-old was rushed to town for treatment and then flown to the Perth Children's Hospital where he was in a stable condition with his dad, Kieren, by his bedside on Sunday night.
He'll undergo more surgery in the coming days but for now the Blakes are trying to figure out how to get the rest of the family more than 1000 kilometres from Exmouth to Perth, and then four times that distance back to Tasmania.
"While on the trip of a lifetime, 11-year-old Archie was mauled by a shark in remote Western Australia He has been flown to Perth via RFDS where he is undergoing surgery.
"Accomodating (sic) the family of six near Perth hospital won't be cheap and then getting Archie, the family and all their gear (including car and trailer) home to Tasmania is going to be a costly exercise."
WA minister John Carey said the size and species of the shark was still unknown.
"The shark response unit is undertaking inquiries and those beaches or those waters have been closed," he said, on Sunday.
It's the second weekend in a row there's been a serious shark attack in Western Australia.
"Prominent surfer Max Marsden was bitten by a 1.5-metre predator while surf last Sunday at Geraldton.
A mate saved his life by using a lead rope to stem the bleeding.
Yesterday a man was injured near Yellingup in a separate shark encounter.
Archie's mother and five siblings were still stuck in Exmouth on Sunday night.
Sharks spotted metres from the shore at beach in Queensland
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