Dad Who Barely Survived Shark Attack: 'They Are Just Carnivores Like Us'

A man who nearly bled to death after a shark tore off his leg has described the moment he watched the creature bite through his flesh to the bone.

Glenn Dickson, 27, was spearfishing with three friends 12 miles off the coast of North Queensland, Australia, in February 2017, when a 10 foot bull shark attacked him.

The huge sea creature sank its teeth into Dickson's right calf, and tore off his muscle, he told Press Association. As the group were out at sea, it took five hours for Dickson to get to a hospital and receive urgent care.

By that time, half of the blood had drained from Dickson's body, he said. Speaking about the ordeal on Nine Network's 60 Minutes Australia, he recalled seeing a "very bright" light during the ordeal.

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The 27 year old said he felt as close as possible to dying, but the thought of his son, daughter and family kept him alive.

"I never gave up," he told the TV show. "I could have gone to sleep and I remember having the choice." Instead, he followed the instructions of his friends desperately trying to keep him awake and alive; to focus on his breathing and the pain.

Dickson has fished since he was a child, he told Press Association, and was never afraid of sharks and eventually got used to their presence.

"Sharks are just carnivores like us, who need to eat to survive, and seeing them so frequently—maybe once every trip—you get used to them being there," he said.

But murky waters on the day of his attack meant he did not spot the bull shark as he untangled a cable in the water.

As the shark smashed into his body, he felt an "awesome jolt" and watched in horror as the animal bit into his leg "down through into the bone."

He told 60 Minutes: "I kind of went into slow motion as I realized. And as I watched blood rise, that image is imprinted in my head, I'll never forget it: watching the shark come through my blood."

Dickson was able to escape because the powerful animal stopped for a moment to swallow and regurgitate part of his leg.

This year, there have been a total of 35 unprovoked shark attacks in Australia, with two fatalities according to the Australian Shark Attack File of the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.

In September, a 12-year-old girl and 46-year-old woman were involved in separate shark attacks off the coast of Queensland.

However, shark experts often stress that such attacks are highly rare. The International Shark Attack File stated in a statement accompanying its Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary that the "worldwide total number of unprovoked shark attacks is remarkably low given the billions of people participating in aquatic recreation each year."