‘I thought it was my last day’: Victim of Cairns bull shark attack recounts his ordeal

He believes a previous knee injury might have helped.

“If I didn’t have the dislocated knee, I think he probably would have ripped it off,” he said.

“I stabbed him on top of the head with the spear gun and he took off but he kept circling around because I was losing a lot of blood.

“He came back two or three times trying to have a go but I was in ankle deep water.”

The two mates and two nephews fishing alongside him quickly came to the rescue.

A shirt was tied to his lower leg to stem the flow of blood, while an anchor rope was used as a tourniquet around his thigh.

Mr Brown became tearful as he spoke about their actions.

“Thank god I had them with me,” Mr Brown said.

“I thought it was my last day.

“I thought I was going to lose my leg or lose my life.”

##PQ2##

The 24-year-old was carried to his boat and then rushed back to his home town of Yarrabah, where he was met by his worried partner.

“She’s upset with me, she even told me not to go out but I still went,” he said.

“As I came back my mate was carrying me up the beach and she said, ‘see I told you to stay home’.”

Mr Brown was initially treated at the local health centre before being airlifted to Cairns.

Yesterday, his injuries were cleaned and stabilised, but further surgery is required to repair the damage.

He said while the incident was traumatic, it won’t turn him off spear fishing into the future.

“I will be going back diving but I won’t be diving at home,” he said.

“We thought that the one time it was clean we’d give it a shot.

“I’ll just go back out to the reef to the clearer water.”