Shark Bites Off Chunk Of Flesh From Man’s Leg After He Landed It

When Jamie Hall, from Darwin, Australia, went on a fishing trip to Nightcliff Jetty with friends over the weekend, he didn’t know he would end up on a hospital bed.

The 45-year-old was bitten on his leg by an unidentified species of shark when he was helping a friend pull in the big beast to land. The two men were successful in getting the shark onto the landing, but when Hall further dragged the fish by the tail, it snapped back, swinging and biting a huge chunk of his left leg.

“I was like- he bit me! And then I smacked his head against the steel. It was bleeding- there’s still lots of blood now,” Hall told 9News.

Thinking the wound was not too serious, Hall simply jumped into the saltwater to wash it off. “I was just going to go home and give it some betadine and that would do it,” he added.

However, he was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for medical attention soon after his friend called an ambulance. He ended up spending two nights in a ward there, recovering from the deep bite.

The adventure enthusiast said, “I’ve caught a swag of sharks there [Nightcliff Jetty] before and I’ve been bitten by one, so you know, what’s the odds?”

Although he was unsure of its species, Hall said it was bronze in color and had a big mouth.

Around 180 species of sharks appear in Australian waters, of which 70 are thought to be endemic. They occur in all habitats around the Australian coastline, however, most of them are found on the continental shelf, primarily at the bottom.

The Australian government says fatal shark attacks are relatively infrequent in its waters with around 53 attacks in the last 50 years - making it approximately one attack per year.