‘I thought my time is up’: When a great white took a bite, this 61-year-old surfer fought back — and won

For most people, their worst nightmare would be lounging in the ocean and then a shark attack happens. Few would actually even live to tell the tale anyway. But for 61-year-old Australian windsurfer Andy McDonald, after a 9-foot great white attacked him and he somehow fought it off, he just shrugged it off and said he’ll be back surfing soon because “lightning doesn’t strike twice at the same place.”

Oddly, attacks by predators in the ocean are not as fatal as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws suggested. In fact, just recently there was a man who was swallowed by a whale while kayaking — only for the whale to spit him out immediately after, and the entire thing was caught on video. And it wasn’t that much different from the particular conundrum McDonald found himself in.

McDonald’s situation was also caught on tape and aired on all the local stations in Australia. McDonald still had his hydrofoil board with a noticeable huge bite from the shark when he walked out of the ocean to a group of onlookers, mostly fellow surfers. McDonald was shaken, but he managed to make light of the situation and said at least he lived to see another day.

After he had time to catch his breath, McDonald finally opened up to the press about how he felt when he noticed the shark was on his trail. He explained that the shark first bit into his board. McDonald continued, “At that point I thought, ‘This is it. This is my time up.’ I realized I was tangled up with it, with a big shark, and, you know, he was definitely going to be the boss in that situation. I was just so lucky that it didn’t come back for another bite of something tastier.”

In the swift attack, the great white shark ended up getting itself tangled in McDonald’s leg strap. He took advantage and started kicking and punching the shark until it eventually had to swim away. Miraculously, he ended up getting out of the situation without any injuries.

The authorities responded by putting up a sign that now warns surfers to be cautious when entering the ocean from that particular spot. But it’s not exactly clear how they’ll do that, because how exactly is someone going to apply caution when you’re in the ocean and a shark is swimming toward you?

That being said, McDonald is probably now going to rise up as a hometown hero after his brave actions. And besides, these days you apparently don’t even automatically get safe from sharks if you stay on the beach. A recent Shark Week revelation showcased that there are apparently “land sharks” well capable of swimming right up to the shore to carry out unexpected attacks, so if you’re into this type of fun — stay doubly cautious.

McDonald said that when he finally realized he was safe — even though he played it off — he called his wife and told her that he had just survived a shark attack. And from his shaking voice, his wife was immediately able to sense that he was, in fact, not okay. And it’s understandable — in that situation, who would be?