A 22-year old man, whom Surfing Life has identified as surfer Brett Connellan, has been bitten by a shark on the leg and arm whilst surfing on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. The attack took place roughly 100 metres offshore at Bombo Beach, near Kiami, around 7pm Wednesday local time.

Connellan received a blood transfusion from paramedics on the beach before he was airlifted to St George Hospital, where according to a NSW Ambulance Service spokeswoman he remains in “a serious but stable condition”. One paramedic on the scene said he was “missing three quarters of his thigh”. Nobody saw the shark in question, but a shark biologist will inspect photographs of the wound in an effort to determine the species.

Connellan is a well-known and well-liked surfer in the local surfing community, and has competed at a high level in both junior and senior categories. The below photo was taken at this year’s Australian Boardriders Battle, a prestigious event held at Cronulla in January and in which many of Australia’s top surfers also partook, Joel Parkinson and Ryan Callinan among them.