Shark-bite victim directs others on tying tourniquet
ECOLA STATE PARK, Ore. — A surfer who was bitten by a shark off the Oregon coast paddled back to shore then directed others on how to tie a tourniquet around his leg.
The attack occurred Monday at 4 p.m. PT at Indian Beach, a popular surfing spot north of Cannon Beach.
Joseph Tanner, 29, of Portland was surfing when the shark bit his thigh, Oregon State Police spokesman Lt. Steve Mitchell said.
After swimming to shore, Tanner was stabilized at the scene and flown to Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Medical Center with injuries described as serious. A hospital spokesman, Brian Terrett, said Tuesday morning he had no information about a patient with that name.
West Woodworth, 29, was in the water nearby when the attack occurred. He told police he saw Tanner flail around and get back on his board. Tanner then yelled at the other surfers and told them to get out of the water.
He and the other surfers paddled back to shore. Tanner, who is a trauma nurse, started instructing Woodworth and others how to tie a tourniquet around his leg.
"He directed his own first aid, what needed to be done,” said Jeff Rose, another witness. “He asked us a lot of questions, what we were seeing, if we saw spurting blood."
They used the leash of Tanner’s surfboard as a tourniquet. Six people then loaded Tanner onto his surf board and carried him to a parking lot to wait for an ambulance.
Tanner told responders that the shark was "medium-big" and he thought it might have been a great white shark but he wasn't sure.
Another witness, a Portland man who didn't want his name to be released, told police he was about 10 feet away from Tanner when he saw him slip off his board. He asked Tanner if he was OK, and then saw a large dorsal fin and the back of the shark, which he said was about 8-feet long.
The online Global Shark Attack File database shows there have been 20 attacks off the Oregon coast during the past 25 years, all involving surfers who survived. The most recent happened three years ago, off Gleneden Beach in Lincoln County.
Investigators have yet to determine what type of shark bit Tanner.
Contributing: The Associated Press