'I still don't believe I'm alive': a great white shark attacked a surfer in California

Surfer Eric Steinley recovers in hospital after being bitten by a great white shark in Bodega Bay, California. He still cannot believe he survived the attack. ABC News.

Photo: Shutterstock

The 38-year-old said he was sitting on a surfboard on Salmon Creek Beach, waiting for a wave when the unexpected happened.

“I was in a lot of pain and thought I would either lose my leg or die,” Steinley said. “I just felt like something heavy was pulling me, and it was like a clamp around my leg. And we went under the water together.”

Another surfer, Jared Davis, who was in the water nearby, said he saw a shark's tail fin.

But Steinley decided not to give up and resisted.

“I hit this creature, cut my hand on its teeth. But it was such a pitiful blow compared to how big the shark was,” he said.

According to Steinley, the animal weakened the bite, so the surfer was able to swim to the surface and ask for help.

“I screamed: “Shark! Help!’” Davis recalls.

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At some point, Steinley doubted his salvation.

“I started noticing spots, and then I thought, I’m definitely not going to swim out,” he said. “But I still managed to catch up with Jared.”

"He told me, 'You can do it, just don't look at your leg and swim.' And then we swam together until the wave came, and then I gave it my all,” Steinley recalled of the moment he fought to get to safety.

When they got to shore, about a dozen surfers rushed to help. Using surf leashes, they made an impromptu tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

“All the surfers that were in the water with me came out together and grabbed a big long board and put me on it,” Steinley said. They carried him on a plank to where the ambulance was supposed to arrive. This saved valuable time.

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Timothy Salutzom, a paramedic who arrived on the scene, noted that the assistance Steinley had received prior to his arrival "really helped save his leg."

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed that it was a great white shark that, based on DNA and bite radius from a Steinley surfboard, is at least 10 feet (about 3 m) in length.

Dave Bader, chief operating and education specialist at the Marine Mammal Care Center, said great white shark bites can be serious: "Eric did everything right in that position."

Stainley was discharged from the intensive care unit after two surgeries and has a long recovery ahead of him. Now, of course, surfing may be different, but he wants to get back on the board at least one more time.

“I still want to be a part of that lifestyle,” Steinley said. “I still don’t believe that I’m alive.”

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