Early yesterday morning, Sunday, 41-year-old surfer Sam Edwardes was attacked by a small white shark while surfing at Belongil, a beach in Byron Bay, Australia, several local media reported.

The shark bit his leg and ripped off a piece of his board. The surfers around him helped him out of the water, applied a tourniquet and he was rushed by helicopter to the nearest hospital.

After eight hours of surgery, during which Edwardes was in critical condition, it was reported that after several treatments he will be able to regain the use of his leg, avoiding the amputation that is so common in these cases.

Byron Bay's main beach was closed following the incident.

“As soon as he got into the lineup the shark attacked him from below, knocking him clean off his board,” Dane Davidson, a friend of the surfer who was there, told ABC. “There was a lot of splashing and water and he started screaming. I was very worried. When I heard the screams he was making in the water and then saw a piece of board floating around, that’s when I realized it was pretty serious.”

"It wasn't until we were on shore that we realized a large chunk of his leg was missing and there was a lot of blood," Davidson said.

The shark alert systems in place in this area, which is heavily populated by surfers, were not activated because the shark was apparently not tagged. The tracking done by helicopter also did not work because, despite the fact that it was flying, with quite a few waves and wind, the shark could not be identified from above.

This is the first attack on the beaches of northern New South Wales in more than two years.

The surfer's friends created a GoFundMe account to pay for his medical bills..