A surfer who survived a close encounter with a bloodlusted shark has told how he managed to escape the jaws of death after employing one simple trick.
Alejo Santiñaque, 20, “suddenly felt a hard hit and a strong pull on my foot” when a shark attacked him while waiting for a wave at Red Cliff in Morton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The Uruguayan suddenly realised “a shark had bitten me” as he was dragged under water by the sea creature, and became tangled in his surfboard leash.
But despite having been trapped in the panicked commotion, Alejo said he was able to escape the shark’s grip by using a straightforward self-defence trick.
View 2 ImagesAlejo said he just used a simple defensive manouevre to escape the shark(Image: FACEBOOK)
Writing in a post on Facebook, the surfer said the attack “happened incredibly fast”, adding that he was able to defend himself with a split-second decision. He wrote: “I was sitting on my surfboard waiting for a wave when I suddenly felt a hard hit and a strong pull on my foot. A shark had bitten me.
“Everything happened incredibly fast — I don’t think more than two seconds passed between the bite and my reaction. It pulled me into the water, and my immediate response was to kick it as hard as I could to make it let go.
“At some point it became tangled in my leash, which ended up separating from the board because of the force of the pull.” Once the shark let go, Alejo added, he “swam as fast as I could towards my board and the shore” during a few “extremely intense” moments, adding: “I had no idea if the shark would come back, so my only focus was getting out of the water.”
The surfer paid special thanks to his friends, who he said were waiting on the shore and able to immediately see to the wounds he had sustained.
He added: “Thankfully, I managed to stay calm the entire time. It was obviously a very intense situation with a lot of adrenaline, but keeping a clear head was crucial. From the moment I was bitten until I reached the beach, I focused on what I needed to do and avoided panicking.
“Fortunately, my friends were nearby. As soon as I reached the shore, they helped me immediately and applied a tourniquet until the ambulance arrived. I’m incredibly grateful to them for acting so quickly and staying calm under pressure.”
Alejo has said he was “very lucky” to survive the bite, saying the shark was able to tear through “skin and muscle”, and even rupture one tendon while damaging others. Thankfully, he said, its teeth missed any major arteries, adding he didn’t “hold any resentment towards the shark”.
He added: “The ocean is its home, and we are the ones entering its environment. As surfers, swimmers and ocean users, we all know that even though incidents like this are extremely rare, the risk is always there.
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“Sharks are not villains or monsters. They are wild animals and an essential part of the marine ecosystem. What happened was a very unfortunate accident, but it doesn’t change the love and respect I have for the ocean. This experience has given me an even greater appreciation for life, my friends, and everyone who helped me that day. Now my focus is on recovery and getting back on my feet.”
The attack happened two days before a man was killed in Western Australia by a suspected 4.5m (14.8ft) shark during another, separate incident.
The unnamed victim, a 35-year-old diver, was spearfishing with his family just off Michaelmas Island, to the south-east of Perth, when he was attacked on Saturday. The diver’s friends rushed him to paramedics by boat, but they were unfortunately unable to revive him, according to local reports.