Surfer knocked unconscious by whale at Bondi Beach

Zee Media Bureau

Sydney: A surfer felt lucky to be alive after he had been knocked unconscious by a whale on Sunday morning while surfing at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Bishan Rajapakse, a 38-year-old doctor was surfing with a friend when a big whale surfaced near him around 10:30am. Dr Rajapakse said, the last thing he remembers before waking up on the beach was saying “Hey, how’s it going?” to the whale, believed to be a southern white, as it swam near him and other surfers, the Sydney Morning Herald said. “The whale actually moved pretty quickly so I guess it made me cautious to see what could happen,” he said. He further added, “I know it’s better to look at them from afar but it’s pretty hard to move away from that temptation because I guess the whale was looking so placid.” He is being treated in St Vincent’s Hospital for head and shoulder injuries. Lifeguard Anthony ‘Harries’ Carroll said: “The whale has lifted its tail and it’s come down and struck the (surfer) on the head and knocked him out.” Mr Carroll said the force of the impact had punched a “large-sized ding” in Dr Rajapakse’s surfboard. “This could have been a major incident, a fatality, so for this guy to walk away with minimal injuries ... he’s probably the luckiest emergency doctor to end up in emergency,” he said. New South Wales Ambulance Service spokesman Adam Wallace says the incident was an unusual one for paramedics. “They do experience a lot of things in their role but I will suggest that whales at Bondi Beach are not the sort of thing that paramedics see everyday,” he said. Kristie Sky, who treated Rajapakse at the scene, told ABC: “I’ve been a paramedic for 12 years and this is by far the most interesting case and way out that I`ve ever done.” With Agency inputs