A typical afternoon at the beach turned into a fight for survival for one unfortunate surfer. Shark attack survivor Dave Pearson says he's lucky to be alive after losing 40 percent of his blood during the gruesome attack.
It's been years later. But the trauma of that event lingers on. Pearson had gone surfing the Mid North Coast of New South Wales in 2011. That's when he was brutally attacked by a bull shark and almost lost his life.
Speaking with ABC Conversations, the shark attack survivor reflected on his fight for survival.
He said, "I was in the rip, padding back out — as you do as a surfer — watching the next set of waves coming through. And then the next thing, I just got hit by something. It was like being hit by a freight train. I was under the water and there were bubbles everywhere. There was something big under there with me, but I couldn't make it out."
Shark Attack Survivor
The shark bit down on his arm, penning it to the surfboard. His thumb was in the mouth of the beast while the rest of his digits fortunately escaped. In one swift motion, Pearson said the fish ripped away his forearm muscle, thumb, and tendons.
He said, "I was a bit stunned and swam back to the surface. I climbed back on my surfboard and looked down and it was then that I realised what had just happened — that I'd been bitten by a shark. My arm was torn open and there was blood going everywhere. And in the process of looking at the red water around me, I saw this big bull shark underneath me."
From there, Dave had to get back to shore. He used a set of waves to help push himself back to the sand. It was a struggle to get land. At one moment, he thought that he was going to drown under the surf.
"It took us just more than 10 minutes to get out of the surf, and in that period, I'd lost 40 percent of my blood. We didn't realise it at the time, but I could have gone into cardiac arrest and died. I was looking down at my arm and saw my forearm muscles hanging off," he said. "There was blood going everywhere, and I could see my bones and I'm going, 'This isn't good,' but I had no pain at all for a good 15 minutes."
Fortunately for the shark attack victim, his friends sprung into action. They used his leg rope to make a tourniquet around his arm. This helped slow the bleeding long enough for paramedics to get there. Their quick work helped save his life.
He reflected, "I often say meeting other shark attack survivors is like meeting family that you've never met before, because you've got that connection. It's a tough meeting, and it always is, but there's a connection there straight away. You don't have to worry about that awkward getting-to-know-someone stage — you can talk about one of the worst experiences straight up."
