VIA – TELEGRAPH UK
9 July 2012
Surfer survived Great White Shark attack thanks to large wave
A South African surfer has told how he survived an attack by a “massive” Great White Shark which savaged one of his legs.
By Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg
4:02PM BST 09 Jul 2012
Jacques Mostert, 29, of Centurion, Pretoria, was surfing at Jongensfontein near the South Africa’s south coast town of Stilbaai, when the shark struck on Friday afternoon.
He told how the creature – estimated by witnesses to have been up to 14.5ft long – grabbed his leg and shook him “like a crazy dog”. He said that as it circled him after the initial bite, he decided to “make peace” with his fate.
“I was about to get out of the water, only about 15m into the surf, when I saw something swimming past me,” he told the Cape Times newspaper.
“At first I thought it was a dolphin, but then I realised I was in trouble.
Then I just felt a hard hit on my side.
“It was as if a crazy dog had bitten into me because it started shaking my leg in the same way.”
He said the shark dropped back under the water and circled him twice.
“I managed to get a look at it and saw it was massive,” he said.
“I was really scared. I’m very religious, so I believe a calmness came over me and I decided to stop panicking about something I couldn’t change.
“This was when a large wave came and I was able to paddle myself back to shore.”
Speaking from his hospital bed in nearby Mossel Bay on Sunday, where he is being treated for serious leg injuries, he added that having survived one attack, he won’t be returning to the water any time soon.
“The shark bit through the ligaments and nerves in the top part of my leg and my knee, so I can’t move my foot. I don’t know how to thank everyone that helped me,” he said.
Rico Menezies, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station commander for the area, said they were called to help at 5.15pm on Friday.
“Mostert was found on the beach suffering from …”
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