LOCAL school teacher Danny Schouten has been named 2027 Young Australian Of The Year for his Community Shark Bite Kits initiative.
The Bite Aid kits can be seen at Diamond Head Beach, Middle Rock Beach, Lighthouse Beach, and Shelly Beach.
The kits include resources such as tourniquets, compression bandages, trauma dressings, thermal blankets, gloves and instruction cards.
They cost $160 each and the project started with funding for 10 kits.
“My wife and I were just making them at home in our kitchen,” Mr Schouten told the audience during his acceptance speech at the 2027 New South Wales Australian of the Year Awards.
“We sealed the units and installed them across our little local strip around Port Macquarie.”
The first kit was installed at North Shore Beach after Mr Schouten’s friend and fellow surfer, Kai McKenzie, was involved in a shark incident that took his leg in 2024.
There are now 355 kits installed around Australia.
Sydney mother Leah Stewart, who lost an arm after a shark attack earlier this year at Coogee Beach, was one of the first to benefit from Mr Schouten’s Bite Aid kits.
“It was the first kit that was used to save someone’s life,” he told the awards audience.
“When I got that phone call, it was a huge, huge shock. I never expected or wanted any of them to be used, always hoping that if it was that it would make a difference.”
Mr Schouten’s vision is to have every beach in Australia equipped with a kit.
“I’m not going to stop doing this until there’s more covered and there’s more lives saved,” he said.
“I’m a full-time teacher. That’s my job, but this is my passion – giving back and doing something that can save more lives.”
By Shalise LEESFIELD
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