At 1045am on the 13th August 2006 Achmat Hassiem, a 24 year-old lifeguard of Strandfontein, had his foot bitten off by a shark during a lifesaving training exercise at Sunrise Beach (Muizenberg) by a Great White shark. Achmat was 200m offshore in clear waters about 2.5m deep, when the shark-attack occurred at about 10.45am.
"We were in the water and meant to be the patients that had to be rescued in the training exercise. Another lifeguard, Nic Pemberton, was meant to be the unconscious patient, I was the patient that couldn't swim and Achmat was the one who was meant to be conscious and could swim," Taariq Hassiem (Achmat's brother) said. "So obviously the boat had to go to pick up Nic first. Then, as they were coming for me, Achmat suddenly shouted: 'Taariq! Shark!' I was near the boat and jumped in as fast as I could and then I turned and saw the shark going for my brother. It was big, and I saw Achmat trying to wrestle with it, fighting it, and then he was gone underwater. I thought he was dead. I couldn't see him or the shark, but then I saw a dark patch under the water. I didn't know if it was a shark or my brother, but I stuck my arm down in the water. "I didn't care if the shark bit it because I thought the dark spot might be my brother. Then I saw it was him, submerged, and he grabbed my hand and I pulled him up. As we pulled him out of the water, I saw there were no bites on his upper body and I thought: 'Thank God.' Then he got his left leg into the boat and that was also okay and then when his right leg came out, I saw his foot was gone. The shark came back and rammed the boat. I think he was trying to tip it over, but we were enough people to weigh it down and keep it stable. We were holding Achmat and he was looking up at me and he said: 'What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong!' He didn't want to look. And then I told him: 'The shark's taken your right foot'."
"It was going for my brother. I shouted: 'Taariq! Shark!' and then started splashing about in the water so that I would attract the shark to me. The shark turned around and came towards me. It grabbed my ankle and shook me, then pulled me under water. I thought the game was over. But as I went down, I told myself, 'No, you're not going to die now', and I started kicking it. It had my right leg and I kicked at its head with my left leg. I don't know how many times I kicked it, maybe four times. But I needed to get breath, I could feel I had already taken in seawater. And then it let go. As I came up I saw my brother's hand in the water and grabbed it. I looked back and saw the shark coming towards me for a second time, but the guys in the boat pulled me in before he got to me. They saved my life. I don't know how to describe what it was like. You don't feel pain. It had my leg in its mouth but I did not feel pain. It was just, I don't know, just this brute power, this massive brute force against me, against nothing. I want to go back. I'm being as brave as I can. But I struggle to sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see it all again, every detail.
15 August 2006 |
|
14 August 2006 |
We welcome input to help us improve our coverage of Muizenberg beach, Cape Town.