I was dragged to the bottom by great white in worst shark attack ever – only my wetsuit stopped my organs spilling out
RODNEY Fox almost died in a horrific shark attack that is considered to be one of the worst in history off the coast of Australia in 1963.
The brutal injuries were apparently so severe that his wetsuit was the only thing preventing his organs from spilling out and killing him.
The Australian shark expert was just 23 when he was savaged by a Great White shark while spearfishing along the country’s southern coast.
He sustained a punctured diaphragm, torn lung, pierced shoulder blade as well as an exposed abdomen, ribcage, spleen and stomach.
23-year-old Rodney needed 462 stitches to survive the horror attack.
The seasoned fisher had just won a spear fishing competition in 1962, and was defending his title the following year about 30 miles south of Adelaide.
Now in his 80s, Rodney previously described the brutal attack: “This huge thump hit me in the chest so hard that immediately I thought it was a train.”
“Then I thought, “No I’m underwater.” It was such a big thump, and it knocked the gun out of my hand, the mask off my face, and I was just hurled through the water faster than I could swim.
“What can I do to get out of its mouth?” Its eyes were probably the most vulnerable thing. My arms were over the top of it, so I gouged its head, and it seemed to stop.
As Rodney swam to the surface, the shark followed.
He described the feeling of looking down to see the predator’s mouth coming up from underneath, in a cloud of his own blood.
“Looking down through the blood red water, which is my blood, and this great big head coming up with its mouth wide open — is the scariest one in my whole memory, because I had nothing to protect myself with.”
In the following moments the shark, although Rodney isn’t sure why, swam away after swallowing a buoy he was tethered to.
Fox was dragged along with it, until the line snapped.
The fisherman recalled reaching the surface and screaming for help as he was dragged onto a nearby boat and taken to safety.
Even now he still has one of the shark’s teeth embedded in his wrist after trying to push the beast away.
Although the Aussie was still afraid of the creatures for a few years, he got back in the water once his body had recovered.
He would trawl the Australian coast with his spear gun hoping to catch one of the predators.
The skilled diver later worked on filming documentaries about them, which is when he realized how important the animals are.
“Science has proven we need the shark — they’re not very many, they don’t have many young,” he said.
“The food that they eat is the slowest – the weak, the sick, the ones with viruses.
“We should protect and look after them.”
He is now focused on helping other people have life-changing underwater experiences with the animals, and started Rodney Fox expeditions which is run by his son Andrew.