Michael Cohen, 42, was about 50 yards from the shore when he was attacked at lunchtime today. Witnesses said one of his legs was bitten off and the other was badly mangled. 
 
 Mr Cohen, a part-time accountant who lives in Cape Town, was dragged from the sea by friends who were with him at the city’s Fish Hoek beach. Paramedics stabilised him before he was airlifted to hospital in Constantia, where he underwent surgery. His father was at his bedside. 
 
 It was understood that shark warning flags were flying on the beach. However, a siren that was normally sounded to warn of predators did not go off because there was a power cut at the time. 
 
 Witnesses said three large great whites had been seen in the area 90 minutes before the attack and on previous days. 
 
 Shark spotters employed by the local council said Mr Cohen often swam at the beach and had been warned in the past about the presence of sharks. 
 
 Tracy Sassen, a surfer from Clovelly, said: “I just saw a burst of water, then saw the shark spotters running along the beach. I saw people pulling him out of the water. He was still compos mentis but very white. We asked him his name and he said: 'Michael. Please help me’.” 
 
 Kathy Geldenhuis, 58, from Fish Hoek, said she held the drips as paramedics worked on Mr Cohen, who was wearing a diabetic tag. “You could tell there was a shark out there because the seals were coming as close as they could to the beach and the fish were jumping out of the water,” she said. 
 
 “I ran up the beach when I saw the splashing in the water and the paramedics were just strapping him up. One of his legs was off totally and the other one was hanging and very badly damaged. He couldn’t say the word shark, he just kept saying, 'It took me under, it took me away.’ I was telling him to keep his eyes open, to stay awake and focus on me.” 
 
 Monwabisi Sikweyiya, one of the shark spotters, helped drag Mr Cohen from the water and used his own shorts and belt as tourniquets. “He was well known to all of us because he was a regular swimmer here,” said Mr Sikweyiya. “He was very interested in sharks and respected them, but never took any notice of our warnings. If he wanted to swim, he swam. We warned him often that he was taking a risk, but he always said 'if a shark takes me, then blame me, not the shark’. 
 
 “ We argued with him regularly about it, but he was a cool guy and just wanted to do his own thing.” 
 
 Mr Cohen, who is single, is a British citizen though he was born in Canada. He is also thought to have lived in Chiswick, west London. 
 
 Last month, Ian Redmond, from Lancashire, was killed by a shark while swimming off the Seychelles. ||||| A British man lost parts of both legs when he was attacked by a great white shark Wednesday after he ignored warnings and went swimming at a Cape Town, South Africa, beach, authorities said. 
 
 The 42-year-old man apparently made it back toward shore at Fish Hoek beach and was pulled from the water by a bystander who left before he could be identified, according to the Press Association news agency. 
 
 An amateur video taken shortly after the attack was uploaded to YouTube and shows a shark still lurking in the water after the mauling victim was stabilized on the beach and airlifted to Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic in critical condition. 
 
 National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesman Craig Lambinon told The Telegraph of London that the man was swimming about 50 meters from shore when the shark attacked. 
 
 "It repeatedly bit at both of his legs and caused serious wounds on both the right and left side," he said. 
 
 When medical teams arrived, the found the swimmer with his right leg bit off above the knee and the left leg bit off below the knee," Lambinon said. 
 
 The victim was believed to live in the suburb of Plumstead. 
 
 Lambinon said: "The man was conscious when paramedics attended to him on the beach, but was sedated on-scene by paramedics in their efforts to stabilize the patient." 
 
 Spotters had sighted the shark 90 minutes before the attack and closed the beach. The white shark flag was raised and the siren set off. 
 
 Cape Town officials told the South African Press Association that, when the man entered the water, the beach was still closed. A shark flag, indicating the presence of a great white, was flying. 
 
 A shark spotter stationed on the long beach was warned by a spotter on the mountain that someone had entered the water. 
 
 The spotter then ran to Clovelly Corner to try to get the swimmer out of the water, but the attack took place before he could reach him. 
 
 The victim of the attack was the only person in the water at the time. 
 
 The beach, together with another three nearby, was closed as a precaution until further notice. 
 
 The shark was still in Fish Hoek Bay in the afternoon and being monitored by the spotters.
– A reminder to those who like to buck authority: You should at least heed warnings related to great white sharks. A 42-year-old British expat had parts of both his legs bitten off in an attack in Cape Town today, after going for a swim though shark warning flags were flying, reports the Telegraph. Michael Cohen was about 150 feet from shore at Fish Hoek beach when the great white struck; he was apparently dragged out of the water by friends and airlifted to a hospital. "It repeatedly bit at both of his legs and caused serious wounds on both the right and left side," said a National Sea Rescue Institute rep. "When medical teams arrived, they found the swimmer with his right leg bit off above the knee and the left leg bit off below the knee." Witnesses say three great whites had been been spotted nearby just 90 minutes before Cohen was attacked, and the beach was then closed. MSNBC reports that Cohen was the only swimmer in the water; a shark spotter reportedly tried to get him out, but didn't get to him in time. A video of a shark was taken in the area just after the attack.