WATCH: James Grant recounts his tale of survival after he fought off a shark in New Zealand
TORONTO – What do you do if you’re attacked by a shark while spear fishing with friends? Fight it off with a knife, stitch yourself up on a beach, then head to a pub for a few pints, of course.
New Zealand doctor James Grant did just that.
Grant was fishing in the murky waters off the southern coast of New Zealand when a shark attacked him.
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“Something tugged on my leg. I thought it might have been one of my dive buddies,” Grant told the Associated Press. “I turned around and I saw a big silver face looking at me and a big body trailing off behind.”
Grant was able to fend off the shark by stabbing it multiple times with a small knife he was using to fish with.
“All I wanted to do was stab it as many times as I could really and eventually he let go,” Grant said.”I think I must have been pretty adrenalized because I couldn’t really feel it at the time.”
The 24-year-old doctor credits his thick wetsuit for helping to protect him.
After fending off the shark, Grant went back to shore and grabbed a first-aid kit from his vehicle and proceeded to stitch himself up on the beach before his friends returned from the other side of the bay.
Before heading to a hospital for proper treatment, Grant’s friends stopped by a local pub for a pint.
“Gave him a pint of beer and his mates were kicking around laughing and then he brought out the big first aid kit and got a little bandage out,” a Colac Bay Tavern employee said. “There was a couple of good holes on both sides of his leg.”
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