Kai McKenzie, 23, was surfing off New South Wales in Australia when he was attacked by a shark, New South Wales police said. 

“Clinging to life, he was able to catch a wave back to the beach,” a fundraising site set up for McKenzie said. “A retired police officer used his dog’s lead as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding before the victim could be airlifted to hospital.”

Amazingly, McKenzie’s leg washed up on the beach after the attack and doctors are hoping to be able to reattach it. 

McKenzie has undergone surgery and remains in critical but stable condition, according to ABC News Australia and the fundraising site. 

MASSIVE BULL SHARK WEIGHING NEARLY 500 POUNDS CAUGHT AT ALABAMA FISHING TOURNAMENT

Luke Short, who makes McKenzie’s surfboards, told ABC they had all hoped “we heard it wrong.”

“It’s amazing that he’s survived,” he added. 

His surf team RAGE called McKenzie the “toughest person we know.”

“Sending love to @kai_mckenzie the youngest RAGE boy on the team and the toughest person that we know,” the team wrote on Instagram this week. “Yesterday he was attacked by a shark and has lost his leg while surfing in Port Macquarie. He has been through a lot breaking his back last year, he never once complained always just got on with doing what he loved as soon as possible. He is an inspiring person. The whole rage gang loves you man and we will see you soon.”

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“Clinging to life, he was able to catch a wave back to the beach,” a fundraising site set up for McKenzie said. “A retired police officer used his dog’s lead as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding before the victim could be airlifted to hospital.” (Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Kirran Mowbray of NSW Ambulance called McKenzie “courageous” during a 7News Sydney on-air broadcast. “He turned around, caught a wave into shore.”

She added that the off-duty officer “used the lead off a dog as a tourniquet to wrap around the young man’s leg and essentially saved his life.”

Kevin Young, vice president of Bite Club, a shark attack survivors club, told the broadcast: “And I know he lost a leg and they packed it with ice and they’re going down to try to reattach it. That just blows my brain that that might be possible.” 

Mid North Coast Police Chief Insp. Stuart Campbell said they would be working to try to find out what type of shark bit McKenzie. 

Port Macquarie Hastings Lifeguards later reported the beach had reopened after the attack. 

Italy is at the top of the Unesco World Heritage list. The World Heritage Committee, meeting in New Delhi at its 46th session, has decided to add the ‘Via Appia Regina Viarum’ on the World Heritage List- becoming the 60th Italian site to be recognised.

The list also includes the Ensemble Schwerin residence in Germany, the Niah National Park in Malaysia, the archaeological area of Al-Faw in Saudi Arabia, Constantin Brâncuși’s sculptural ensemble in Târgu Jiu and the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia, both in Romania.

Candidature of the Via Appia promoted by the Ministry of Culture

The candidature was promoted for the first time directly by the Ministry of Culture, which coordinated all the stages of the process and prepared the necessary documentation for the application.

The history of the Via Appia

About 650 kilometres long, the ancient Via Appia goes through central and southern Italy. It was the first of Rome ‘s great roads built using innovative techniques; true masterpieces of civil engineering that complemented the natural roads and are the most enduring monuments of Roman civilisation.

The route was inaugurated in 312 B.C. by the censor Appius Claudius Blind to connect Rome to Capua. It was later extended to Benevento, Venosa, Taranto and Brindisi.

Conceived for military needs, the Via Appia immediately became the road of great commercial communications and primary cultural transmissions. Over time, it became the model for all subsequent Roman public roads.

“UNESCO has grasped the exceptional universal value of an extraordinary engineering work that over the centuries has been essential for trade, social and cultural exchanges with the Mediterranean and the East,” said Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.

“This recognition adds to the extraordinary success achieved less than a year ago by Italian opera,” commented Undersecretary for Culture with responsibility for UNESCO, Gianmarco Mazzi.