Sam back home after near-fatal shark attack

Seven months after being almost fatally mauled by a shark in the pristine waters off Thursday Island, 15-year-old Sam Nai is finally back home with his family after more than 20 surgeries in Townsville University Hospital. 

Surviving what his surgeon Dr Brendan O’Connor called “some of the most extensive injuries I’ve ever seen”, Sam’s recovery is the miracle his family and treating team at Townsville University Hospital weren’t sure they’d see. 

A day at the beach, like so many others for Sam and his mates last October, ended in horror when the shark attacked out of nowhere. 

Incredibly Sam swam 20 metres to shore with bite wounds to his abdomen so savage they ripped the lining from his tummy wall, exposing his stomach and intestines. 

His mum, Shana Mosby, was at home when she got the call. 

“I remember getting the phone call late Saturday afternoon telling me to get the Esplanade because Sam had been attacked by something in the water,” Ms Mosby said. 

“I got there, and Sam said, ‘I’m in pain, and you run really fast’. I just comforted him and told him, ‘for you my boy, I’d grow wings if I had to’. 

“He was squeezing my hand, he was saying he was in pain, and I just kept reassuring him it was good to feel pain, ‘bubba, pain is a good thing’. 

“I was there holding his hand, and I remember it was loud. People just came out of the woodwork, and everybody was talking over each other, and I was still on the phone with the ambulance. 

“My nephew took his shirt off so we could use it as a bandage to keep Sam’s intestines and organs in his body. 

“It never crossed my mind that I was going to lose him; I was just thinking what his life was going to look like now when this was all done.” 

Sam was airlifted from Thursday Island to Townsville University Hospital following the attack. 

“I was in the helicopter with Sam, and I wasn’t panicking or anything like that,” Ms Mosby said. 

“I was just watching the nurse and doctor and counting how many bags of blood they had to change; it was six. 

“Sam is my extrovert, he is bubbly, fearless, brave, strong willed, and assertive. 

“I knew life was going to be different for him. Different was ok, we could do different.” 

Sam’s injuries were mere millimetres from being fatal, causing the loss of large amounts of tissue, muscle, fat, and skin on the left side of his abdomen. 

Dr O’Connor said when he first received the call about Sam, he feared the worst. 

“While I had some idea of the extent of the injuries, it’s something you never really know until you see them in person,” he said. 

“The big concern initially was whether any of his organs or major blood vessels had been lost or injured. 

“His stomach and intestines were exposed because he had lost all of the lining of his tummy wall.” 

Miraculously the rest of Sam’s organs, including his bowel, were uninjured. 

“A millimetre further and the bowel would have been involved which could have been fatal,” Dr O’Connor said. 

What followed was four months of surgeries, sometimes multiple surgeries a week, to reconstruct Sam’s abdomen. 

“The initial surgeries were for inspecting the damaged tissue and cleaning,” Dr O’Connor said. 

“After being attacked, Sam had to swim for shore so there was a lot of sand and debris that had to be cleaned out from his torso. 

“He was in the operating theatre three times in the first week for us to check the wound, see what damaged tissue needed to be removed, and to fully assess the extent of the injuries. 

“One of the challenges we had during the reconstruction phase of his abdomen was that Sam is still growing. 

“We had to consider something that would grow with him, so we decided on using a biodegradable matrix which is typically used for burn injuries and acts as scaffold for the body to regenerate the dermis, the deeper layer of our skin,” he said. 

Dr O’Connor said because there were so many surgeries, he and his young patient became ‘quite good mates’. 

“He’d ask me to sing him a song while he was being sedated for surgery; luckily I’m Irish so that wasn’t a problem,” he said. 

“The next surgeries were about building those layers of matrix onto his wound, using mesh to reinforce his tummy wall and doing skin grafts.” 

Dr O’Connor said Sam’s survival was the stuff of legend. 

“It was a very, very significant injury,” he said. 

“Watching his recovery has been special, and it has been fantastic to see him when he was first able to get up and about, then quickly moving onto a Zimmer frame, roller frame, crutches, and then being able to walk back and forth from the hospital to the Ronald McDonald House. 

“He has a great attitude, which has helped his body heal. 

“From doctors, to nursing, and allied health, Sam had a big team of healthcare professionals behind him. 

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be able to help Sam. 

“It was very important to me to ensure that he received absolutely the best care he could and I’m very proud the whole team at TUH were able to provide that level of care to him without having to send him further still from his home to somewhere like Brisbane. 

“His care was as good as what he would have received at any children's hospital in the world." 

Sam said he was starting to feel himself after the surgeries. 

“It feels like me, but a bit different,” Sam said. 

Back home on Thursday Island, Sam’s mum said he had settled back in well. 

“He is back in his dance troupe, he is back at school, and he has signed up to do a colour fun run as well,” Ms Mosby said. 

“God was with Sam that day.”