News Accident

Kiwi diver lucky to have his leg after shark bite in Fiji

Kiwi diver lucky to have his leg after shark bite in Fiji
Image: Henry Gibbs
A New Zealand spearfisher says he's lucky to have his leg after a shark latched onto it and began "death rolling" in Fiji.

Henry Gibbs, a diver and content creator, posted a video of the beginning of the attack to his Instagram page warning others not to judge a shark by its size.

The self-described ocean enthusiast says he had been diving the reef for a couple of hours with a speargun before heading into deeper water in search of something bigger.

He says a few grey reef sharks had been hanging around, with one staying longer than the others.

Gibbs says he will never know exactly what caused the change, but eventually it started making tight semicircles beneath them, became increasingly agitated and even sprinted at the boat.

He says looking back, that should have been a sign to end the dive.

Gibbs says he never thought a shark of that size posed much of a threat, and that was a mistake.

He says sharks in New Zealand were generally less aggressive and he made an error by expecting sharks in Fiji to behave the same.

The diver says he knew it was coming for him, which is why he can be heard starting to make a fuss before it even gets to him.

Gibbs says it sidesteps the speargun, peels underneath him, latches onto the back of his calf and starts death rolling.

Gibbs says he was weighing up whether to post the rest of the footage as it becomes very graphic but thought it was important to share the lessons he had learned, such as; don't ignore a shark that becomes agitated, erratic or increasingly aggressive, if its behaviour changes - move on, wear plain black wetsuits, and don't judge the risk by the shark's size.

He says there were no hard feelings toward the shark and put it down to "wrong place, wrong time".

Gibbs says he was in its environment, hunting its food.

Gibbs says after four surgeries and a skin graft it looked like he had make a full recovery and thanked all the hospital staff who had cared for him, friends and family.

He adds for now, he feels very lucky and has an even greater appreciation for life.

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