Shark Attack Survivor Says 9-Foot Bull Shark Bite Was Like Being 'Hit by a Freight Train': 'I Could See My Bones'

Mar. 15, 2025

Dave Pearson.Photo:WENDELL TEODORO/AFP via Getty

WENDELL TEODORO/AFP via Getty

In a new interview with theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC)Conversationsinterview program, Pearson recalled, “I was in the rip, padding back out — as you do as a surfer — watching the next set of waves coming through.”

Dave Pearson pictured surfing on Crowdy Bay National Park at Port Macquarie, Australia.WENDELL TEODORO/AFP via Getty

The shark attack survivor continued that the shark’s “top jaw” was “wide open” and “its snout hit me in the right temple, which knocked me out and hurt my neck and back in the process.”

He said that because he was paddling, his “left arm was going forward and ended up between the top jaw and the surfboard,” adding, “My thumb had gone into its mouth, but the rest of my hand had gone on the outside so it didn’t swallow my arm, luckily.”

“The top teeth just proceeded to tear the forearm muscle straight off the bone, and the teeth took some tendons in my wrist and thumb and damaged that as well,” Pearson told the program.

Pearson — who has since started a private Facebook group calledBite Clubto connect with fellow victims of shark attacks — managed to climb back onto his surfboard after the attack, but realized his arm had been “torn open” and blood was “going everywhere.”

Dave Pearson has a tattoo marking the shark attack.PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty

PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty

He continued to struggle while getting caught in the waves, telling the program, “I knew I’d run out of air and that I was about to pass out and that I was just about to die and I went, ‘Wow, today’s the day I die.’ "

“It was a tough realization, that I actually knew the moment of my life ending,” Pearson shared. “And then I thought, ‘No, not today. You can’t die.’ "

Adding that he “lost 40 percent of my blood” in the 10 minutes that it took him to get out of the surf, Pearson said, per the outlet, “There was blood going everywhere, and I could see my bones and I’m going, ‘This isn’t good,’ but I had no pain at all for a good 15 minutes.”

A stock photo of a bull shark.Getty

Getty

Despite initially being told his bone had been damaged and his arm would probably need to be amputated, doctors managed to save it.

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“There were many sleepless nights,” he told the outlet. He set up his Bite Club group in 2013, which had 509 members, as of Friday, Feb. 21.

“We have found in our own experiences that we can help each other through the hard times,” a description on the page reads.

“We are also willing to share information with all people who are interested in the devastating effect an attack can create and the inspiring stories of survivors who have overcome the adversary of an attack and have become inspirational to those who know them,” it adds.

source: people.com