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© Mike Parry/Minden Pictures/Corbis Great white sharks have been responsible for previous attacks on the NSW north coast.
The 52-year-old surfer undergoes surgery on arm and leg injuries after punching the great white when it attacked him from behind

A surfer has suffered serious injuries after fighting off a great white shark which attacked him off a beach in northern NSW.

The 52-year-old man from Evans Head, named in media reports as Craig Ison, punched the shark when it attacked from behind during his regular early morning surf on Friday.

He was undergoing surgery on Friday after suffering injuries to his legs and hands.

His friend, Geoff Hill, said Ison was paddling back to shore as the shark pursued him, biting him and knocking him off his board before the surfer punched it away. He was then helped to shore and received first aid

"It was like watching a Mick Fanning replay," Mr Hill told the Northern Star, referring to the world champion surfer's headline-grabbing escape from a shark in South Africa earlier this month.

Pictures of Ison's punctured surf board show a large bite mark and a shark expert from the NSW department of primary industries has confirmed the predator was a great white.

Detective Inspector Cameron Lindsay told reporters in Ballina the quick thinking of people on the scene who stemmed the flow of blood may have saved Ison's life.

Two surfers initially helped him, using towels and tourniquets until emergency services arrived at the beach.

Ison was then transported to Lismore hospital in an ambulance driven by a police officer as paramedics frantically worked on him in the back.

The beach, south of Ballina, is not patrolled in winter and would remain closed, a Surf Life Saving NSW spokeswoman said.

Local resident Bart Easdown says in the past week locals have reported many sightings of four-metre and five-metre sharks near Ballina and Lennox Head.

But he says nothing will stop surfers.

"I'm not quite that brave, but they [local surfers] are, and they just love doing it," Mr Easdown told reporters.

"The majority of people say they will be back in the water and that there is always something looming."

On Sunday beaches around Ballina were closed after two sharks were spotted off the coast, a Surf Life Saving NSW spokeswoman said.

Earlier this month a bodyboarder was mauled by a shark at Ballina's Lighthouse Beach, suffering serious injuries to his lower legs.

In February, a large great white shark tore the legs off 41-year-old surfer, Tadashi Nakaharaa, in a fatal attack at neighbouring Shelly Beach.

On Sunday a man was killed by a shark while diving for scallops with his daughter near Maria Island, off Tasmania's east coast.


Source: Australian Associated Press