Harrowing moment shark rips diver's leg to shreds as water turns blood red

20 July 2023 , 06:38

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Harrowing moment shark rips diver's leg to shreds as water turns blood red

A Brit has told of the harrowing moment a shark tore into a fellow diver’s leg while snorkelling 10 metres underwater.

Dan White and his fiancée were completing their deep diver certificate out in Egypt back in 2018, when things took a terrifying turn.

A curious shark approached the group, and while placid at first, it quickly took an interest in the divers.

It then latched onto a German tourist’s leg and “cartwheeled” over, tearing into its calf muscle and sending a plume of blood into the water.

Dan, from Farnham, Surrey, caught the entire attack on his GoPro. He has now spoken out about what happened when they were swimming near the El Ikhwa Islands in the Red Sea.

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Screams could be heard during the harrowing mauling

He told the BBC’s Why Sharks Attack: "We were only five metres deep, swimming around and having a little look.

"Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a dark shadow, I turned to see what it was and it was a shark. That’s when I pulled up the go pro and started filming."

It was an Oceanic White Tip shark that approached the group and eventually bit a German tourist on the leg

The footage shows the shark making its way over to Dan – who was in the water along with a group of five and two instructors.

He added: "The shark was pretty placid and then its behaviour flipped on itself. It came down to the divers level and started investigating. It took a great interest in the male driver’s fins.

Brit Dan White recounted the 2018 attack in the Red Sea (BBC / Windfall Films / Tim Jameson)

"The diver was kicking away to fend it off."

Dan had previously said that just the day before they had dived with three white tips without any problems.

But the shark then turned its intentions to another member of the group, and began stalking the German tourist.

Dan said: "It bit into the diver's leg, latched on, thrashed around and ended up going over almost like a cartwheel. It was crazy, it wouldn't let go for what felt like forever. It ended up tearing his calf muscle completely off his leg.

The shark stalking the German tourist before it attacked

"There was a big plume of blood in the water. Another diver started screaming you could hear her scream - a shriek noise in your ear. It's horrifying to listen to."

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On the footage you can hear the harrowing screams as the shark tears into their leg and blood fills the water around them.

After the attack, they were rushed from the water and taken straight to hospital.

While his leg did not need to be amputated, his calf had been ripped to shreds by the beast, leaving his calf muscles and bone destroyed.

Kieren Williams