A man has suffered abdominal injuries after a dolphin swam into him at Bawley Point on the South Coast this morning.
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NSW Ambulance Duty Operations Manager Wayne Dunlop said the 27-year-old male was riding a body board when the collision occurred.
“He has come over a wave and as he did so, a dolphin has come through and hit him in the pelvic area. The force has been enough to tear the patient’s wetsuit,” Insp Dunlop said.
Paramedics were called to the Nuggen Point car park, where they had another kilometre to travel before reaching the patient, who had reportedly made his way out of the water and was on the beach.
The patient was treated at the scene before being transported by road ambulance to Milton Hospital helipad. He is being airlifted by Rescue 26 ambulance medical rescue helicopter to St George Hospital in a stable condition.
Insp Dunlop said the full extent of the patient’s injuries were unknown and would require further assessment.
He said that, as far as he was aware, the dolphin was able to continue on its journey.
Such incidents are not common for NSW Ambulance. The last such major collision occurred in July 2013 when a surfer was hit by a whale’s tail at Bondi Beach.
