The $60 item popping up on Aussie beaches that could save your life
A growing number of Shark Bite Kits are turning up on remote beaches along Australia’s east coast after a spate of deadly shark attacks.
Danny Schouten is installing his community-funded kits on remote beaches after his friend Kai Mckenzie, 23, lost his right leg while surfing on NSW’s Mid North Coast in July last year.
Mr McKenzie fought bravely against the shark before catching a wave to shore, where a makeshift tourniquet made from a dog leash was tied around his leg.
This very close call inspired Mr Schouten, who previously worked as a lifeguard in Port Macquarie, to create the life-saving Shark Bite Kits.
“We’ve lost a number of people close to home to sharks over the years and I think this is one of those things we need to be better prepared for,” he told the newspaper. ABC.
“I don’t understand why they’re not here yet, so I really want to give something back and make sure everyone has the opportunity to have something close to them.”
Each Shark Bite Kit costs just $60 to make and includes two tourniquets, two bandages, a compression bandage, a thermal blanket, pouches for amputated parts, a whistle, and instructions on how to respond.
A GoFundMe was established to finance the production of the kits.
Following a horrific shark attack on tailor Kai Mckenzie (right), Danny Schouten (left) has rolled out community-funded Shark Bite Kits on remote beaches
Each kit (shown) costs $60 to make and includes two tourniquets, two bandages, a compression bandage, thermal blanket, amputee bags, a whistle, and instructions
The remote North Shore beach in Port Macquarie, where a surfer lost his leg in 2023, was the first beach to have a Shark Bite Kit (pictured) installed the following year
“These kits are designed to provide a rapid response to control bleeding in the crucial minutes after a shark attack and potentially save lives before professional medical help arrives,” Mr Schouten wrote about the fundraiser.
“The original aim was to generate sufficient funding to deliver kits to the popular but isolated beaches in the Port Macquarie-Hastings area.
“However, the ultimate goal would be to have equipment on each of our beaches. Better yet, any beach in Australia.”
The remote North Shore beach in Port Macquarie, where Mr McKenzie lost his leg in 2023, was the first beach to have a Shark Bite Kit installed the following year.
The installation of the life-saving kits comes as the veteran surfer who was fatally attacked by a shark at Granites Beach on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula has been identified as 28-year-old Lance Appleby.
The body of the Port Lincoln man, who was visiting his family at Christmas, has yet to be found as an extensive air, land and sea search enters its third day.
The attack comes after local fisherman Ben Schultz said he saw an “aggressive” great white shark in the area on the same day Appleby went missing.
A South Australian Police spokesperson confirmed on Friday that someone on a jet ski had found a surfboard shortly after the attack.