BLOOD IN THE WATER
A DAD has told how he almost bled to death after a shark ripped his leg off and violently tossed him around "like a rag doll" underwater.
Glenn Dickson was spearfishing with pals off the coast of North Queensland, Australia, when the 10ft beast ambushed him.
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The 32-year-old explained he had been chasing his prey in the depths and managed to fire a perfect shot moments before the attack.
He "slowly" began to make his way back to the surface with his catch, when a huge bull shark lurking in the water latched onto his leg.
Glenn, detailing the terrifying moment, told news.com.au: "Right at that stage, I felt like I just got hit by a truck.
"I was immediately thrown around violently, being thrashed around like a rag doll underwater. I knew I was getting attacked by a shark."
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He described watching the predator through a haze of his own blood as it clamped its jaws around his thigh, refusing to give up its grip.
The father-of-three continued: "All of a sudden, everything just like, stopped.
"The shark released my leg and I could tell it was going to come back. It just pulled me three times, or four times, violently. I passed out."
Glenn's friends watched in horror as they saw the water turn bright red while the shark continued to hurl him around.
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They rushed over and hauled him into their boat, while fearing that their gym-loving pal was "a goner from the waist down."
Glenn explained he was in and out of consciousness, but realised that there was "serious damage done" to his leg.
He recalled: "I started feeling coldness, tiredness. Every time I started fading away, my friend would start punching me in the chest."
Pals Rick, Peter and Aaron began to fashion makeshift tourniquets to help stem the near-fatal blood loss.
It took them five hours to sail back to shore and reach a hospital.
Glenn told how he saw a "bright white light" that he battled to stay away from during the frantic journey back to dry land.
He said: "I lost half the blood in my body. I could see a bright light in my eyes and knew that if I allowed it to overcome me, I wouldn’t come back.
"But the thought of my beautiful wife-to-be, Jessie-Lee, and our lovely children, made me hold on and not let go.
"Seeing their faces and thinking how I might be deprived of having a wonderful future with them, pushed me not to give in - to force my body to stay alive and to get back to my family."
Doctors dubbed Glenn a "miracle survivor" after somehow pulling through the Jaws-like attack on February 18, 2017.
The bull shark tore through his thigh and tore off his calf muscle.
It had severed his femoral artery, which delivers the main blood supply to the lower limb, which could have caused him to bleed out in as little as three minutes.
Glenn's now-wife Jessie-Lee explained she "didn't want to go near" him at the hospital as the extent of his injuries "frightened" her.
The following day, medics were forced to amputate his right leg.
"I was just thankful to even be here and just to see the ones I love," the grateful dad said.
Just three months after his underwater ordeal, Glenn returned to the gym and worked on adapting to life with a prosthetic leg.
His persistence paid off - as he later proudly walked down the aisle unaided to marry his childhood sweetheart Jessie-Lee.
The pair, who have been pals since Glenn was four, chose the idyllic local beach where they used to play together as kids to tie the knot.
And there is no bad blood between him and the bull shark that nearly killed him either.
The dad added: "Sharks are just carnivores like us, who need to eat to survive.
"Seeing them so frequently – maybe once every trip – you get used to them being there.
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"It can be a little discomforting when they swim near you, but I’d never had any reason to be frightened of them."
He is now a motivational speaker who also campaigns for shark conservation.
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