CA Shark Attack Victim Speaks Out: Shocking Attack Footage And Interview [Video]
It sounds like a scene from the movie Jaws, but California shark attack victim Steven Robles lives to tell his horrifying story. It all started Saturday morning while Steven Robles was out for his routine swim from Hermosa Beach north to Manhattan Beach, according to ABC News. At the same time, a fisherman, who claims he was trying to catch a bat ray, actually caught a 7-foot great white shark on his line.
ABC News reports that while it is illegal to fish for great white sharks, the fisherman kept the shark on his line for approximately 40 minutes as the shark continued trying to free itself. The fisherman cut the line releasing the great white shark just as shark attack victim, Robles, was swimming past.
Shark victim Robles told Fox News, “It came up to the surface, it looked at me and attacked me right on the side of my chest. That all happened within two seconds, I saw the eyes of the shark as I was seeing it swim toward me. It lunged at my chest, and it locked into my chest.”
Robles believed he was going to die in that moment. He remembers thinking, “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is it. Oh my God, I’m going to die. This is really, this is it.'” Thankfully, his reflexes caused him to pry the shark’s jaws off his chest with all this strength. The shark released Robles and swam away, as reported by Fox News.
What enrages the shark attack victim, Robles, is the cavalier attitude of the fisherman caught on camera. As Robles was fighting for his life, the fishermen on the pier were laughing as they watched the entire incident and watched innocent swimmers move within feet of the agitated great white shark, according to FOX News. Watch the video below, however, be aware expletives are used.
The shark attack victim had been swimming with about a dozen friends that morning, so as he began screaming that he had been bitten, his friends immediately reacted in aiding to his rescue. When fellow swimmer Nader Nejadhashemi first heard Robles screams, he thought Robles may have just been suffering from a cramp — until he saw blood.
Fox News reports that the shark attack victim’s friend, Nejadhashemi, quickly swam to Robles and checked that “all his extremities were intact, then comforted him as others in the group flagged a nearby paddle boarder.” With the help of swimmers and surfers, Robles was pushed to the shore on the paddle board where paramedics awaited to take him to the hospital.
As the shark still remains somewhere in the waters, its victim is extremely angry at the fisherman for not releasing the shark immediately. In the video interview with Fox News, the shark attack victim, Robles, says he saw footage of the fisherman laughing and carrying on while he was fighting for his life. Robles calls the man sick. The fisherman, in his defense, said he didn’t release it sooner because there were swimmers in the area.
[Photo credit: tusb.stanford.edu]
UPDATE: Regarding the fishermen, FOX News reports that it is unclear as to whether the wildlife officials are investigating and the department spokeswoman did not return calls seeking a comment.
