Hey Doc, wanna see my shark bite? (Photo: BNPS)
A Cheshire man on holiday in Australia got more than he bargained for when he went diving off the West coast of Australia.
Matt Bowen, who was on a round the world trip, was diving around a wreck off the western coast of Australia with a buddy when he felt a pulling on his leg. Thinking it was his pal playing games, he turned around and came face to face with a 10ft bull shark, who just happened to have his leg in its jaws.
“I started kicking it as hard as I could,� relives a shocked Matt. “Luckily I got my flippers in the way. My buddy pulled me away, kicking at the shark at the same time.�
Matt believes the shark would have attacked him again if it wasn’t for his flippers. Eventually they managed to free Matt’s leg and swam, rather hurriedly, to the surface where Matt saw for the first time the damage to his leg.
“When I looked at my leg, all I could see was this bloody mess. The shock and adrenaline soon wore off and I was slipping in and out of consciousness.�
Matt was rushed to hospital in Albany where he was stabilised before being taken to Perth. He had to have several skin grafts, was bedridden for two weeks and had six weeks of painful physiotherapy before he could walk properly again.
Bull sharks are among the top four most dangerous sharks in the world and have a notorious reputation for being aggressive and unpredictable.
You’d think that with a 10 inch scar as a reminder of how close he came to being eaten, Matt would be put off diving, but he has said that he doesn’t want it to stop him from diving again. Matt is still in Australia working at a surf school and later plans to visit New Zealand, Thailand and Canada.
In a further horror, he also survived an encounter with a Neighbour’s star. He bumped into Alan Fletcher, aka Dr Karl Kennedy in a bar, but doesn’t appear to have suffered any kind of trauma due to the encounter.
If you fancy diving off the coast of Australia, we cannot guarantee a shark attack however, then check out our diving in Australia guide.
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