Additional information on my bite is located here...

We are still working on the best way to share our experiences.

I do participate in going to the beach wading, swimming, body-boarding, attempt surfing, fish, shark fish, snorkel, scuba dive, spearfish. Many of the most common ways to be attacked by a shark are activates I participate in and I like to know how others were attacked doing these activities.

I know you see so many different topics concerning Sharks / Shark Attacks / Shark Finning / Shark Conservation.

I like most Shark Attack Survivors do not support Shark Finning and support Shark Conservation.

Places like the USA have had shark fishing regulations in effect for almost two decades. Many species of coastal sharks have begun to replenish their numbers while other dwindle.

Person’s entering these waters where sharks are most probably present need to know about the sharks they may encounter, when they might encounter them, how to avoid a negative interaction with them, and how to get away should one get a hold of you.

We hope we can display as much Shark Attack information as possible so it may help you make an educated decision before you enter the water and remain aware of your surroundings and most important (Have a rescue plan for any and all beach accidents).

The attack –

I had just ridden a nice wave and was paddling back out to the take off location. When I reached about the half way mark I felt something near my right arm. Instinctively I began to pull my arm out of the water. The next thing I knew I was underwater and could feel the sandy bottom under my feet and the side of the surfboard with the tip of my fingers. I had no idea as to what had just happened, but I knew I needed to get to the surface. In one motion I pushed off the bottom and pulled the surfboard under my arm pit. When the salt water cleared from my eyes there was a 16 to 18 inch wide yellowish colored shark head with my arm down its throat. The shark began thrashing its head from side to side ripping off flesh with each toss of its head. I couldn’t let go of the surfboard to punch at the shark or poke at its eyes my only option was to kick at it. As I kicked at the shark, the shark just kept on thrashing its head from side to side removing more and more flesh. When I could see about 5 inches of flesh had been removed from my arm and kicking at the shark was doing absolutely no good. I had to stop this shark from thrashing back and forth before it removed my entire arm. My thought at this time was to grab a hold of the shark with my legs and hold onto it until it let go of me. I wasn’t able to wrap my legs completely around the shark, but I was able to squeeze my knees together at the sharks gill area, the shark let go and was gone. At this time I thought it took the arm I so desperately tried to keep.

The Rescue –

I began looking around me to gather my bearings and look for the other surfers headed my way to help me back to shore. Of course the entire time I’m battling with the shark I was screaming shark and help. There were no other surfers around anymore they were all already on shore. I was hanging onto the board screaming for someone to come and help. As I was screaming for them to come and help they were screaming for me to get back on the board and paddle in. They said there were sharks all over the place and no one was coming out. “You have to make it to shore on your own, before the sharks come back and get you again”.

The Self Rescue-

I slid back onto the board and starting paddling with my left arm when I went to use the right arm which I thought was gone, it was still there. I couldn’t move it so I reached over with my left arm and pulled the shark bitten arm onto the board. When I did the blood was coming out with such force I could hear it and could hardly see because as it was hitting the flesh and going all over. Paddling with one arm was not making much progress so I moved back a little on the board and started kicking with my feet and paddling with my left arm. The blood flow was slowing down and my ability to hold my head up, paddle, and kick all at the same time was becoming impossible and I began to fade in and out of conscious.

(One of scariest things of the entire experience is as you’re headed toward shore and look for shark fins headed your way for another attack.)

Luckily the waves and wind were blowing me towards shore and the little bit of kicking and paddling I was able to do. I made it within 15 feet from shore, looked up at all the people just standing there in shock and said that’s it, if someone doesn’t come out and help me now then I’m going to die right here.

Two other surfers from down the beach that hadn’t witnessed the attack came running down the beach to see what all the action was and they jumped in and pulled me onto the beach. Soon I heard a loud noise and opened my eyes to see a helicopter landing on the beach. It was a 3 minute helicopter ride to the hospital when I arrived I was DOA.

The Damage -

This shark attack caused the amputation of my right arm, both lungs to collapse and have salt water in them, virtually all the blood was drained from my body, death when my heart stopped beating several times and I laid in a coma for 3 days as the doctors feared I had brain damage because there was no way of knowing how long it had been that my brain was deprived of oxygen.

All this damage was the result of a shark attack by a small seven foot mostly considered harmless Lemon shark. At the time in 1976 this was an 80,000.00 medical bill these days it would be over a million.

Damage a small Lemon shark can cause to a human arm!

Why I had to rescue myself -

I spoke with one of the other surfers surfing that day and asked why wouldn’t anyone come out and help me back to shore. He said there were so many sharks darting around under the other surfers while I was fighting the shark attached to me. One of the other surfers board was hit by another shark and the sharks followed them almost all the way back to shore. He said no matter how hard he tried to put a toe back in the water he just couldn’t after being chased to back shore and just barely escaping being attacked himself. The movie JAWS was still playing in the theaters so at the time sharks brought chills to most people.

Outlook -

I do not support the senseless killing of sharks or the act of shark fining. For the first couple of years after the attack I thought a good shark was a dead shark. That soon changed and I began to Tag and Release sharks which I strongly support now.

Problems –

A few problems we hope to address

People entering the water where sharks might be present need to know as much as possible about sharks and shark attacks. They need to know this before entering the water in order to make an educated decision if they should go in the water and how concerned they should be about sharks in the area, the time of year, up to the minute statistics, and the previous attacks in this area.

The shark I regret killing –

While fishing one day this Hammerhead shark bit my twenty pound test spinning rod setup. Fishing with one and a half arms is a challenge even if it’s a small fish. This thing was larger than anything I had caught since my shark attack. It was about an hour into the fight that we noticed I had a Hammerhead on. About a half hour later my stump, good arm, and the other parts of my body that the rod braced against were so worn out I couldn’t even hold the rod any longer even after loosening up the drag. I had to pass the rod off to a friend to continue the fight. This shark whipped my butt and should have been released after it beat me (it deserved to be set free, it beat me fare and square). We planned on eating the shark not knowing Hammerhead shark was not really that good to eat, we power headed the shark and brought it on board. It only took one cut into the shark when we realized we couldn’t eat it and we felt so bad about killing a fish that we couldn’t eat. We cut it up and threw it overboard to feed the other fish. I put this picture up and told this story even though it makes me feel bad, but it reminds me and hopefully educates you to not kill sharks senselessly, what a waste.

Here’s a little pee-pee Spinner shark - Taged and Released.

Sailfish

When I passed the shark catch to my friend it eliminated me from gaining access into the IGFA five to one club. Catch a fish that weighs five times the line strength. This day I had ten pound test line on a spinning rod and going after sailfish. I landed this fish that weighed forty eight pounds just two pounds short of the five to one club. It was tagged and released and to date I am still trying to get in the five to one club.

All geared up with my dry suit, full face mask, forty pounds of weight, golf ball collection bag. Crawling around the bottom of golf course lakes in minus zero foot visibility for several hours at a time is a trip to say the least, but it pays for the SAS File so it’s worth it.

Take it from me you don't want to be attacked by a shark and I hope my experience and the experiences of other survivors may help you avoid an shark attack.