All the best Seajuice on a speedy recovery, I'm sure all of the Breeze community are right behind you.
thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/nsw/2020/01/17/shark-attack-windang-illawarra-nsw/
Wishing you SeaJuice a fast recovery expecting as well to next read from you through some funnier posts.
Thanks guys. So much appreciate your well wishes. Sorry for the late reply. Had calls & well wishes from family, workmates, friends & people that I had lost touch with.
I declined on speaking to media as I would have had a full on day. Family & friends come first. It's been overwhelming. I'm still in hospital for further surgery to rejoin severed tendons. I really put my foot in it this time didn't I.
Poor shark is getting treated for foot in mouth disease haa!
I must say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time & conditions that had pouring rain overnight, very cloudy with showers in the early morning with a flooding out going tide through the lake entrance out past the beach with stained water. As you may know we here have had a very dry spell. So when it finally rains, out of the lake washes all the bait fish & marine life. Perfect feeding time for large fish & sharks. Bull sharks & maybe bronze whalers love these conditions at this time of year.
But we still take our chances. Which I did & came out second best.
Also to let you know. I was on a prone board for a 3rd session. Trying to improve on my pop up which was happening. But only got 2 waves before the shark struck.
I will give you the full story in due course. But I had to let you know of the safety aspects first. As I was a keen fisherman in the past & still am in a way. I knew the conditions gave one of the highest chances of a shark bite.
I may have been safer on a paddle board but probably not so if I fell in. Although I was just sitting on my board when it struck my dangling foot.
If I had my time again I would have gone to a much cleaner & clearer wave break away from excessive water movement that stirs up the marine life.
Cheers & thanks so much for your support. You guys have been awesome entertainment.
Severed tendons does not sound great... I hope you are able to make a full and fast recovery.
It is rather ironinic that a stand-up paddler gets bitten while sitting down... That just proves that stand-up paddling is better than prone!
All the best.
Bloody hell Will, you drew the short straw there mate. Of all the short boarders that dangle their legs over in that spot you were the unlucky one.
There are a few guys that paddle out there in the semi-dark in the morning that maybe should reconsider that option.
I'll certainly be a little bit more nervous when I paddle out there tomorrow.
Speedy recovery mate, hope to see you out there soon.
Bloody hell Will, you drew the short straw there mate. Of all the short boarders that dangle their legs over in that spot you were the unlucky one.
There are a few guys that paddle out there in the semi-dark in the morning that maybe should reconsider that option.
I'll certainly be a little bit more nervous when I paddle out there tomorrow.
Speedy recovery mate, hope to see you out there soon.
Thanks Ken. Better on a paddleboard out there. Especially on the run out tide & dirty water. Have fun.
Hi SeaJuice, glad you are I good spirits.... heal well and quickly!
hopefully this will fill your shark quota and keep you free from further shark activity
Hey SJ All the best mate. I've enjoyed reading your board reviews and sup journey and also stoked you keep the shortboard fires alight, even though the cost this time is nasty. One of our local lads up on the nnsw coast had a similar experience probs 8 years ago on a dusk sesh, except it was a much smaller shark which bit across the arch of his foot. Just sutures, which I removed, no tendon damage like you've sustained. FWIW I've been using a shark shield for years now cos I'm a serial dawn patroller for all the goodness it delivers. It's bloody sharky up here as is well known and this technology gives me great peace of mind as I paddle out on my own even before the sun sticks it head up and says g'day, use it for spearing too. Might be the leverage required to keep SWMBO onside when you can return to the seajuice As STC said you've fulfilled your stats quota, surely lightning doesn't strike twice
Thanks Jaime. I seriously cannot thank you guys enough for carrying me all that way. I have surfed that place many a time on my own and new of the complications of getting help if something goes wrong. Was always a concern of having to cover a long distance to get help.
I would love to get the names of all you guys that assisted me.
Thanks for putting photos up. I have been analyzing the whole event. Wondering how the shark damaged my board. I first thought the board was damaged by putting me down maybe on a stone or something. But my neighbour Peter said a lot of water had come out of the ding when he put it out in a warm area. So it must have been in the water when it happened.
Sorry to you guys for wrecking your morning.
At home now Ken. Can't go surfing tomorrow. I've got a sore foot.
No seriously. Have to keep foot immobile & elevated as often as possible. Probably for at least 6 weeks.
Currently the pain comes & goes & is tolerable. No need for pain killers unless I want to sleep.
On strong antibiotics for another week to guard against any infections.
No feeling on top of both big toes but feeling at the tips & underneath.
So far so good.
Say hi to the boys. Tell em I really put my foot in it this time.
I know it's not surfing. But just a few pics of fish I caught in the lake about a week before my shark attack.
If these were getting flushed out the entrance, no wonder the sharks were feeding.
Thanks Jaime. I seriously cannot thank you guys enough for carrying me all that way. I have surfed that place many a time on my own and new of the complications of getting help if something goes wrong. Was always a concern of having to cover a long distance to get help.
I would love to get the names of all you guys that assisted me.
Thanks for putting photos up. I have been analyzing the whole event. Wondering how the shark damaged my board. I first thought the board was damaged by putting me down maybe on a stone or something. But my neighbour Peter said a lot of water had come out of the ding when he put it out in a warm area. So it must have been in the water when it happened.
Sorry to you guys for wrecking your morning.
Hi Seajuice,
Mate no worries, yeah that was a long carry up the beach, we had a few rest stops to get our breath and strength back (hope you didn't lose too much blood).
I was there with Sam to wavesail, he was out wave sailing with you when you got bit. He also ran up the beach to get the emergency and back down to cart you back up to the waiting ambo's. Got to say you handled it well.
I'm not sure who the other guys were, I think local shortboarders. Sam gave one of them a lift back over to Warilla.
We put you down gently on the grass s? the board wasn't damaged on the beach, must have been the shark or your foot kicking the beast away.
A bunch of guys were back wavesailing next day with some brave shortboarders, the lifeguards were doing laps with their Jetski scaring away any grey suits.
Hope the recovery goes well and your back out there soon
jaime
Thanks for your reply Jaime. Much appreciated. The guy that got a lift back to Warilla would have been my new neighbour who gave me a lift to Warilla beach with him. We paddled out through the entrance.
Yeah, I remember Sam. He fell in near me. We had a quick chat about the tide. He then sailed out then back close to shore as I got attacked. So my feet must be more attractive than his..