There are renewed calls for legropes to be made mandatory after a Byron Bay man suffered a life-threatening wound from a stray surfboard.
Mathew Cassidy was surfing with friends at Wategos Beach on Wednesday afternoon when he was hit by the fin of a loose longboard.
"The board flew up under may arm and ripped through all the veins and arteries," he said.
"I looked down and I could see half my bicep hanging out."
The 49-year-old former professional surfer told a bystander to use a legrope as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding "which absolutely saved my life".
"There was a lot of blood," he said.
"I would have bled out in five minutes if it wasn't for a couple of key people taking really clear instructions."
Legrope debate
A legrope may have saved Mr Cassidy's life, but it was the absence of one which led to the accident.
Josh Wheatley, who was surfing with Mr Cassidy at the time, said the incident showed how dangerous a loose board could be in crowded surf.
"The owner [of the board] says their legrope was broken, but it's a bit unconfirmed at the moment as to whether there was a legrope or not," he said.
"It's a bit of a big term to put on things, but a surfboard in the surf like that can definitely be deadly.
"The person was mortified about what had occurred, but that doesn't really help Mathew."
The incident has provoked a furious reaction on social media, and sparked renewed calls for legropes to be made mandatory.
The issue has been an ongoing source of tension at breaks such as Wategos and The Pass in Byron Bay, where the long but usually gentle waves attract big crowds.
"Obviously everyone should wear a legrope," Mr Cassidy said.
"There's this whole hipster thing [about not wearing one] but that doesn't hold water for me.
"The Pass is full of kids, and I think there have been four incidents outside of mine in the last month or so.
"How do you look your wife in the eye if you've knocked a kid out just because you didn't want to wear a legrope?"
Don't drop in
Mr Cassidy said he was also concerned about a growing trend of ignoring an unwritten rule about not "dropping in" on a surfer already up and riding.
"It's a cultural thing at those two breaks where people don't even look inside, they just take off and go," he said.
"They're safe places to surf until you start putting three and four people on a wave.
Former Greens MLC Ian Cohen has been a vocal critic of surfers who refuse to wear legropes.
"Accidents can happen but when you have a situation where you could be wearing a legrope, you should be wearing a legrope, a lot of these accidents can be avoided," he said.
"It's a fashion of the experts who feel they're good enough not to need a legrope, which I would dispute.
"Anyone can lose their board at any time, even professional surfers."
Local woman Alison Drover has called for a community campaign to increase awareness about etiquette in the surf.
"Actually design a campaign that's got community engagement to focus on protecting not just the people in the water, but also the environment that we're in," she said.
"Byron has the opportunity to lead the way with doing this."
Editor's note 13/2: This article has been amended to remove a reference that some people found offensive.
