Alive: Glen Folkard shows off his horrific scar after surviving a shark attackA surfer has spoken of his terror as a ferocious bull shark sank its teeth into his leg. Glen Folkard was thrown off his board and dragged beneath the surface as the 10ft animal caught him it its vice-like grip.
But as the bull shark - a species known to be highly aggressive towards humans - released him for another bite, the 44-year-old seized his chance for life.
He managed to climb back onto his board and ride the waves back to Redhead Beach, north of Sydney - all while the menacing dark shadow stalked behind in the blood stream gushing from his horrific thigh wound.
‘It was everything you'd think it would be, just sheer terror.
‘He's hit me from underneath, he's grabbed me, he's turned me, took me under and then let go cos I think he had fibreglass in his mouth... and that was my chance,’ he told AFP, five weeks after the savage attack.
Ferocious: The highly aggressive bull shark took more than four pound of flesh from the father-of-one's thigh during the attack five weeks ago The father-of-one collapsed in the sand with a ‘big mass of yuck’ where his thigh once was, but euphoric to be alive.
He added: ‘I just remember rolling off the surfboard onto my back, looking at the sky and just loving life instantly,’
‘I was laying on my back looking just at the blue sky, going "I'm alive, I made it" because it was all but over. He was metres away from having a second go.’
Mr Folkard lost more than four pounds in weight of flesh from his leg and nearly bled to death.
He spent several days in intensive care fighting for his life after suffering horrific blood loss.
But he does not hold a grudge against the shark that bit him -- ‘he didn't know any better, it was a mistaken identity'.
Predator: Bull shark's are one of only a few of the species that are aggressive towards humansHe said at the time: 'My son actually said he saw the shark leap out of the water and grab a fish before the attack.
'The man's skin was really grey. He obviously lost quite a lot of blood.
'It was kind of like Jaws, you know, the scene at the start where everybody's pulled out of the water and it's a hot day and the water's inviting.'
Scores of people were in the water at the time and hundreds were on the beach and heard the frantic cries 'I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble', from Mr Folkard.
Surfer Steve Tidey described a terrifying scene of panic and blood.
He said: 'There was a disturbance in the water and I looked back and saw him get back on the board.
'There were bits of his board floating in the water and blood was streaming out from behind him. I knew there had been a shark attack.'
He added that Mr Folkard started losing consciousness as soon as he was carried onto the shore.As paramedics rushed to the scene, lifesavers gave Mr Folkard oxygen before he was carried to a nearby shed.
Mr Tidey told how a brave Mr Folkard even managed to crack a joke about wanting to see his surfboard because it was his favourite after paramedics gave him some oxygen.
This was the first shark attack at a netted beach in New South Wales since February 2009 when a surfer lost his hand at Bondi.
It is not known, however, whether the net at Redhead Beach had been removed by maritime authorities.
Idyllic: The shark attack has not put off too many surfers from enjoying the waves at Redhead Beach near Newcastle but has led to some calls for improved safety features'The nets are supposed to be a barrier to stop sharks reaching shallow water, but in reality almost half of shark entanglements occur on the beach side of the nets,' she said.
'Shark nets kill thousands of turtles, dolphins, rays and other species that are not a danger to humans at all.'
But New South Wales's Department of Primary Industries disputed the claims.
source: dailymail
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