October 30, 2014
SYDNEY (AFP) - A 20-year-old surfer in Australia who was bitten by a shark after accidentally standing on its head said Thursday he managed to kick the charging animal away -- escaping with a gash to his foot.
Ryan Hunt had gone surfing after work on Wednesday evening at Wallabi Point, south of Port Macquarie, in New South Wales -- on Australia's east coast.
"I caught a wave in, got off, and then stood on a shark's head," he told Nine Network television from his hospital bed.
"I was in waist-deep water and put my foot down and I thought it was a rock at first and then it latched on to my foot," he said.
"I kicked it with the other foot a couple of times and it let go and it bit down again.
"I kicked it again and it's come up between my legs and I sort of had it in my hands nearly.
"There was just heaps of blood everywhere."
Hunt managed to make it ashore where friends applied first aid to his wounds.
He was due to have surgery on a gash on his left foot later Thursday.
Hunt, who had just returned from a surfing competition in Japan, posted a photo of his bloody, punctured foot on social media, commenting: "Apparently sharks like feet..."
Experts say attacks by sharks, which are common in Australian waters, are increasing as water sports become more popular.
Earlier this month, two great white sharks were killed after a young surfer lost parts of both arms in an attack off the south coast of Western Australia.
The most recent fatality was in September when a man was killed in front of his wife while swimming at Byron Bay on the east coast.
