‘Luckiest guy in the world’ survives shark bite while snorkeling at California beach
Despite being bitten on the leg by a great white shark Saturday off a Northern California beach, snorkeler Nemanja Spasojevic considers himself fortunate.
“I (am) probably the luckiest guy in the world, to get hit by a great white and walk out of the hospital the same day,” Spasojevic, 38, told KNTV.
He had been snorkeling at Gray Whale Cove State Beach in San Mateo County in search of crabs — initial reports described him as a surfer — when a great white shark bit him Saturday morning.
“I felt a mosquito bite-like pain and a slight push,” Spasojevic said in a written statement to KTVU. “As I wrapped my legs around I could see the face of the shark. I was looking at it from the surface so I could not confirm the white underbelly but I could see its nose and black eyes.”
Spasojevic described it as “more like (a) curiosity bite” than an attack in his statement, also provided to SFGate.
As he kicked back to shore, Spasojevic said he felt no pain but “could feel that the wetsuit was ripped and cold water was coming in,” KTVU reported.
He made it to shore and discovered his wetsuit filling with blood, dashing his plans to drive himself to the hospital, Spasojevic told KNTV. He ended up calling out to a fisherman for help.
“And I looked over at him, he was waving (at) me, and he just collapsed down to the ground,” said Thomas Masotta, who improvised a tourniquet from his fishing gear, McClatchy News reported.
Rescuers carried Spasojevic up a steep staircase from the beach and took him to a San Francisco hospital, where doctors repaired a vein in his leg, KTVU reported.
He was released from the hospital a few hours later.
“In addition to being thankful to all responders, I’m very grateful to the shark as well that it was gentle and did not strike again,” Spasojevic said in his statement. “Ocean is their home and we are just visitors.”
Nearby beaches, which closed following the attack, have reopened.
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 8:41 AM with the headline "‘Luckiest guy in the world’ survives shark bite while snorkeling at California beach."