Shark bite took time to hurt

Press, 10 January 1984, Page 6

Shark bite took time to hurt

PA Wellington Mr Reuben McGregor said he did not feel the shark bite him on Sunday night — “I was so frightened I didn’t really feel a thing to start with,” he said. ‘1 saw the fins. I knew it ' was coming. “It was just a split moment. It didn’t hurt until after when I looked down and saw all the blood and started to pass out.” Mr McGregor, aged 57, was in a satisfactory condition in Wellington Hospital last evening. Mr McGregor, a Longburn freezing worker who has been out of work since December 15 because of a

dispute at the works, said he had been diving near rocks off the Paekakariki coast when the shark struck. “It first knew it was there when it bumped against me. It was like a horse pushing pass you. “The water was so dirty I don’t think it had seen me.

“After it bumped me it must have sensed where I was because it turned round and dived straight against me.”

Though Mr McGregor said he did not feel pain when the shark attacked him, biting the inner thigh and an ankle, he said the teeth were “sharp, like a razor blade.

“They cut right in.” He said he had forced

himself from the water on to a rock, leaping with the shark still trying to attack his ankle.

He had called for help then fainted.

Mr McGregor said he did not get a clear view of the shark and was uncertain of its size.

“I know it was big enough to bite you, that’s all,” he said.

Mr McGregor has been diving near Paekakariki for 40 years, but said he was not in any hurry to go diving again. He was looking forward to a rest at his Feilding home.

The beach was deserted yesterday, more because of a strong northerly than a fear of sharks.