Sebastian Achim, bitten by a blue shark while fishing off the Waterford coast, has said he feared he would die in the attack and will undergo surgery at Cork University Hospital later today (August 13).
Attack and Rescue
Mr Achim sustained a serious leg injury while attempting to land the shark from a small boat near Ardmore and was airlifted to hospital for emergency care. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said he feared for his life at one point due to the amount of blood he was losing, Cork Beo reports.
“I didn't think I was going to make it,” he said, adding that he and his three fellow crew members were three hours from shore at the time, and that he lost consciousness roughly 10 minutes after the attack.
Helicopter Rescue
Mr Achim had no idea that the Coast Guard helicopter was capable of lifting him from the vessel, and it was only upon spotting it overhead, having regained consciousness, that he understood he would pull through.
“I couldn't stand, every time I would try to stand I would pass out. I was very lucky to get back ok, only because of the helicopter (otherwise) I don't think I would have made it because I lost too much blood.”
Injury and Treatment
Mr Achim will require a skin and tissue graft to repair the damage inflicted by the shark, with surgeons at CUH harvesting the tissue from elsewhere on his body. He noted that he felt no pain whatsoever at the moment of the bite — though that changed dramatically once aboard the helicopter en route to hospital. “I didn't feel pain until I got to the hospital - when I got to the hospital I realised the gravity, my adrenaline rush washed off.”
It marked his first venture into blue shark fishing, and everything appeared to be going smoothly when his vessel set out at midday on Tuesday. The remainder of the crew, all seasoned fishermen, successfully caught and tagged their sharks for research before he hooked one and attempted to haul it aboard.
Aftermath
“I was just admiring the fish itself, when he just jumped in a millisecond and grabbed into my calf. I cannot say if it was a deliberate attack or it was not a deliberate attack, but the fish is in the right anyway, we took it out of the water and the fish was in his survival instinct. We just threw him back in the water, we didn't manage to tag him. We didn't want the fish to be more panicked than that.”
Mr Achim recalled that it took him a few moments to comprehend what had happened, but he fashioned a makeshift tourniquet around his leg in a bid to control the bleeding. “It was scary, but I was not scared for myself - I was just thinking about my girlfriend, trying to hold myself strong so I didn't scare the crew as well. I was trying to keep myself awake so I didn't make anyone panic, it doesn't matter the gravity of the problem, it matters for me that the people around do not suffer because of my actions.”
