A WA father talked about his encounter with a shark north of Perth while he was still in the hospital.
After Troy Brown was bitten while “foil boarding” off Wedge Island, north of Lancelin, he sustained damage to his ankle that required 40 stitches.
When the incident occurred on Christmas Eve, about 3 p.m., he and his family were vacationing on the Midwest Coast.
The 46-year-old claims that after feeling discomfort after getting off his board and believing he had cut his ankle, he “fell” into the shark’s mouth and sustained more than 20 puncture wounds on his ankle.
“Straight into the water and I fell straight into its mouth,” he said.
“Then quickly realised the pain was on both sides of ankle, realised it wasn’t a foil, so put feet on board and saw the injuries.”
From a shark, that is. He searched the water around Lancelin, off Wedge Island, but was unable to spot the animal.
The father rushed the 2.5 kilometers back to shore, knowing the vacation site well.
“I was watching the blood run out all over the deck of the board, a big puddle of blood on the board as I sailed all the way back,” he continued.
“I walked on my tip toes because there was a lot of soft sand so tired to keep my injuries out of the sand.”
He managed to get medical help by hauling himself back to his shanty, where his wife and kids were waiting for him.
After that, he had surgery at Joondalup Health Campus, from which he is still recovering.
Brown hopes to return to the sea after spending the next two weeks healing in his moon boot.
“Look I was unlucky but I was also probably very lucky to get away with what I did,” he stated.
The father’s experience is not unique; near Whitfords Beach, a tiger shark was seen circling a wake boarder.
