A British businessman has described how he fought off a shark by punching it in the face after it sunk its teeth into his leg while he snorkelled off the Galapagos Islands.
Andrew Newman, from London, said three ligaments were severed and he suffered a broken bone when the ’12ft’ predator attacked him off the coast of Santa Fe, Ecuador.
The terrified 45-year-old escaped with his life after repeatedly lashing out at the shark’s face until it released him.
A friend helped him on to nearby rocks where he found that half of his foot ‘looked like it was hanging off’. He then faced an agonising three-hour boat trip to the nearest hospital while fellow passengers desperately tried to stop his bleeding.
British businessman Andrew Newman (pictured) has described how he fought off a shark by punching it in the face after it sunk its teeth into his leg while he snorkelled off the Galapagos Islands
Andrew Newman, from London, said he severed three ligaments and suffered a broken bone when the ’12ft’ predator attacked him off the coast of Santa Fe, Ecuador. He is pictured on a stretcher after the attack
The advertising boss was approaching some sea lions when he felt a ‘huge force’ on his leg – and initially thought it may have been another member of the group playing a practical joke.
But he told the Evening Standard how he turned to see the shark’s jaws clamped around his foot.
He said: ‘His eyes were no more than a meter away from me – this massive shark head with white eyes. We were just staring at each-other with his whole foot in my mouth. He wouldn’t let go.
Using a Go Pro he was carrying – which was lost in the attack – he hit the beast ‘harder and harder until he let go’ he said.
After the attack he was picked up in a dinghy before enduring the ‘longest three hours’ of his life as the group headed for the hospital.
The terrified 45-year-old, who was on a wildlife trip to the famous archipelago, escaped with his life after repeatedly lashing out at the shark’s face until it released his foot. Pictures show the injuries to his foot
After a friend helped him on to nearby rocks, he revealed that ‘half of my foot looked like it was hanging off’ and he faced an agonising three-hour boat trip to the nearest hospital while fellow passengers desperately tried to stop his bleeding
He said he could see bones and tendons and took painkillers while another British member of the group, who happened to be a doctor, helped to treat his wounds.
After preliminary surgery on his foot, he is now due to return to Britain for further treatment.
Mr Newman, who co-founded the DOOH.com marketing agency five years ago, told the newspaper he was in the Galapagos Islands to ‘find my faith in life again through nature’ following the death of husband Damon in 2016.
He said of his ordeal: ‘When I close my eyes, all I can see is the shark’s white eye and my foot in his mouth. What I ultimately found was how precious my life is and how happy I am to be alive.’
Such attacks are incredibly rare in Ecuador with just eight reported since records began more than 60 years ago, website Shark Attack Data claims.
One expert told the Evening Standard Mr Newman may have been targeted by a so-called Galapagos shark.
A province of Ecuador, the volcanic archipelago of 21 islands, some uninhabited by man, lies in an isolated spot in the Pacific Ocean, about 600 miles off the coastline of South America.
Because of the islands’ isolation, many of the animals and plants here show special adaptive traits, developed over thousands of years to help them cope with their unique environment.
These provide living proof of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.