Father-son surfers Charles and Andrew Lindop were out to enjoy the waves at a beach in Sidney in February, when an 8-foot shark came to the beach looking for breakfast. Dad, Charles, heard his 15-year old son screaming, and when he looked up, saw about the worst thing any parent could imagine: a shark dragging his son off the board, and blood in the water.
Rare as they are, it was the beach's third shark attack in as many weeks.
Luckily for Andrew, Charles is trained in surf rescue and was able to bring his son to shore (shark or no shark), create a field tourniquet from a surfboard tether and keep his son stable until ambulances arrived. The bite was a fraction of an inch from a major artery, but several weeks into his recovery, Andrew is almost entirely healed--albeit scarred by the outline of a shark's massive jaw. Now the boy can't wait to rejoin dad in the surf.
We talk a lot as parents about how we'd throw ourselves in front of a bus, or fight off a lion for our children. Well, here's a dad who did. I know this is Mother's Day weekend, but for a little preview of fatherly greatness, go see Charles Lindop tell the story (and see Andrew's impressive scar) at the BBC.
image: nzherald.co.nz
