Incredible stories of people who survived a battle with sharks

Rodney Fox

The coral reefs located near the coast of Australia are a favorite spot for great white sharks. There is always tasty prey to be found here for the huge predators. Rodney Fox – a future biologist and avid diver – was hunting fish. Things were going as well as they possibly could. With a spear gun he had caught quite a few large fish. The sharks darting around posed no danger to the diver. Until the «White Death» appeared. That is what the locals call the great white shark.

It was of impressive size. Yet this did not stop the shark from making a swift lunge toward Rodney. The diver did not even have time to react. The huge jaws closed across his torso. Rodney Fox felt a terrible pressure, and had he not been wearing a wetsuit, the shark would have ground up all his insides.

The «White Death» dragged the poor student through the water like a rag. And after the third attack it pulled him down into the depths of the ocean. Rodney had already begun to suffocate and lose his strength. At the most dangerous moment, the safety belt by which the great white was pulling Fox came off. And the predator left its victim in the middle of the ocean.

Doctors operated on Rodney Fox for four hours. The wetsuit, in the literal sense of the word, saved the future biologist’s life. It helped his insides stay in place. Surgeons put 500 stitches  into the diver’s mangled body.

Having trained as a biologist, Rodney Fox would become a fierce defender of great white sharks. In the 1970s he and his son would design a unique wetsuit with lead layers to protect divers from the powerful jaws of marine predators.

Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton was only 13, but she already knew how to conquer the waves.  The girl was born in Hawaii, and the ocean waters were her native element. Her passion for surfing  led Bethany to her first successes in competitions. She was predicted a great future in this sport.

On this ordinary day the sun shone gently as always. The rolling waves rocked the board on which Bethany lay. She was cheerfully chatting with her friends, her left arm dangling in the clear water. It all happened unexpectedly. A huge tiger shark leaped out of a wave and seized Bethany’s body with a bulldog grip.

She recalled later: «With my free hand I grabbed the board. I didn’t want to be dragged underwater. The shark pulled me back and forth, but didn’t take me down. As if I were a piece of steak that someone was eating. Then it let go of me and sharply swam away».

The predator managed to bite off her left arm below the shoulder. The water around Bethany immediately turned red with blood. The girl’s friends did not lose their heads and quickly tied off the wound with a tourniquet. And then they carefully carried her to shore.

The first aid given to Hamilton after the shark attack saved her life. Fortunately, no infection got into the wound. Twenty-six days later Bethany, against her parents’ wishes, would once again set out to conquer the ocean waves. In 2009 she would become the silver medalist at the world surfing championship, and two years later a film about Bethany, «Soul Surfer», would be released. The 33-year-old Bethany is married and is raising three sons.

Mike Coots

And once again Hawaii, which draws the most dangerous killer sharks like a magnet. The 18-year-old surfer Mike Coots was carelessly riding his board here. A tiger shark crept up unnoticed from the depths. And Mike did not even feel any pain. However, he did not lose his presence of mind.

«I gave it a couple of good hits on the nose, and then climbed back onto the board. My arm was bleeding, but I was paddling toward shore. And then my leg started throbbing. I saw something off to the side and thought it was a shark. I looked back — and it was my torn-off leg», Mike said, describing his condition after the shark attack.

To his friends’  amazement,  even after losing his right leg, Mike Coots would return  to his favorite pursuit – surfing. He would once again «catch» a wave to ride boldly on its crest to the shore. And soon Mike Coots would shock everyone with his actions. He would join an organization devoted to protecting sharks. Now Mike does underwater filming near the habitats of these sea creatures. According to him, he once came face to face with a giant shark near Stewart Island. This time everything turned out fine. The predator did not touch Mike and indifferently swam past the surfer.

Coots  maintains that sharks are not man-eaters by nature at all, and that the role of these inhabitants in the life of the ocean is hard to overestimate.

Three days surrounded by hundreds of sharks: the terrible fate of the crew of the USS Indianapolis