WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES Lee Berryman confirmed he had been bitten by a shark and revealed the scar he had
A shark attack victim showed off his horror 11-inch scar left after a Great White sank its teeth into him while he was out surfing.
Lee Berryman confirmed he had been bitten by the shark at D’Estrees Bay, Kangaroo Island, Australiaon October 7, after initially believing it was a Bronze Whaler. The South Australia Police previously said a man in his 50s had driven himself to hospital following the attack.
Shark Watch South Australia (SWSA) said they believed the bite on Mr Berryman’s thigh measured about 10 inches in length, which suggested the animal was about three metres long.
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Mr Berryman’s surfboard was broken in the attack and he later shared graphic images of his scar that required more than 50 stitches. He told local outlets he was only bitten once and added the shark had “chomped” on him.
Teeth marks riddled the surfboard and it was later determined they were too wide to be that of a Bronze Whaler and instead matched a Great White. Mr Berryman said in a statement sent to SWSA: “I was swimming out and the shark just grabbed me.
“Its nose was close to me, and so I just started belting it and it let go. As soon as I felt it grab me, I thought to myself, ‘that’s the little f***** that was here the other day.'”
SWSA said of the attack: “As [Berryman] swam inshore, two seals swam around nearby with the pup dancing around Lee until he made it in.” Berryman added he was recovering and “is walking around” though he is unable to sit down for long periods of time.
The organisation added: “We look forward to hosting him on our next ‘Sharks Cast’ for a special public broadcast to be recorded in the coming days. Lee has been surfing D’Estrees Bay for 43 years and Cray dives around the bay.
“He knows the waters “like the back of his hand.” Sharks are not an issue for Lee and he wants to make it clear that there’s no hard feelings towards them after his ordeal.”
According to the Australian Shark Incident Database, over the last 10 years there have been, on average, 20 shark incidents each year. It added on average 2.8 fatalities each year and seven incidents where the person was uninjured.
