Shark Attack:

Surfer attacked by a shark will not stop him going back in the water

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 22 October 2004: - - Surfer John Gresham, 59, from Stockton, was attacked by a shark while he was surfing with his son and eight other people off Stockton Beach, Newcastle, NSW, yesterday afternoon when the 2.5-metre shark rammed his board. He said he was "lucky" to escape with just a cut to his foot during the terrifying experience.

"I've never had nothing like this happen and I hope I never do again," he said. "I will go back in the water but I'll probably wait a couple of weeks." He said the shark, which he believed was a bronze whaler, hit his foot and knocked it into the air. It then lifted his surfboard clear out of the water and would have attacked again if he had not managed to get back to the shore.

"It dived and I thought, 'Where is it?'. My son was there and we caught the next wave in," he said. "That's when I noticed a bit of a cut on my foot and I was very white and pale and very happy to be on dry land." Mr Gresham said he was lucky to move his foot at the right time during the attack. "If I hadn't moved my foot (the shark) would have had my foot up to my knee and then come back for more," he said.

Ian Gordon, Newcastle Council's aquatics coordinator, said the recent heavy rain had probably enticed the shark towards the beach. "Certainly you'd have the harbour being flushed by the rain, so good feeding conditions for sharks,". "We're just asking, again, surfers to take caution, particularly around dawn and dusk which are the feeding times for sharks and other fish."

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