California shark attack survivor recalls ‘tussling’ with animal and screaming for help

A man who was bitten multiple times by a shark while swimming near San Diego, California, in the US, earlier this month recalled “tussling” with the animal for seconds and swimming through bloody water to safety.

Caleb Adams, 46, was swimming in Del Mar, California, with 18 members of an open water swim group when he felt “a strong hit to my body” on June 2.

“I knew I had been hit by a shark. I tussled with the animal for what was seconds,” he told NBC.

“The second time I struck the animal and I felt a softer tissue. I am going to speculate that was inside the shark’s mouth. And I had several cuts on my hand and wrist.”

That’s when he yelled “just two clear words”— “help” and “shark”.

His swimming buddy Kevin Barrett heard his cries for help.

“You know that’s a real scream,” Barrett recalled.

By the time he reached Adams, the shark was gone.

“When I was swimming him in, the blood was just pouring out of his chest,” he recalled.

Once on shore, “we could really see the traumatic extent of his injuries, and it was not pretty”.

A lifeguard kept his hand under Adams’ chin and urged him to not look down as he was taken to an ambulance.

The shark bites occurred about 90m offshore from the Beach Safety Centre at 17th Street, the city of Del Mar said in a statement.

Adams was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla with bites to his left hand, his left arm and his torso, the city of Del Mar said. Nearly the entire stretch of beach was closed after the attack.

Jenna Veal, a member of Adams’ swimming group that trains weekly, was right behind him when the incident happened.

She previously told NBC she heard him scream for help.

“He punched it in the face. He punched it in the nose,” she said.

“I do know he had a gash on his hand from a shark’s tooth.”

Adams said he’s feeling strong despite the ordeal, now with stitches and scars lining his arms and crossing his torso from the attack.

Returning to the beach with his wife about two weeks after the attack, he said: “It’s emotional being here, without question.”

“I have a beautiful community to lean on and I’m very thankful,” he added.

Experts say that strip of beach near Del Mar has become a nursery for young great white sharks.

Unprovoked shark attacks are rare: There were just 36 in the US last year, including two in California, one of them fatal, the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File said.