‘Luckiest guy in the world’ survives great white shark attack in California

Spasojevic was snorkelling when he ‘felt a mosquito bite-like pain and a slight push’

A 38-year-old man who was snorkelling in search of crabs at a Northern California beach on Saturday when he was attacked by a great white shark, said he is the “luckiest guy in the world” to live to tell the tale.

“I felt a mosquito bite-like pain and a slight push,” Nemanja Spasojevic was quoted as saying by KTVU. “As I wrapped my legs around I could see the face of the shark. I was looking at it from the surface so I could not confirm the white underbelly but I could see its nose and black eyes.”

Instincts kicked in as he swam to the shore of Gray Whale Cove beach. But Mr Spasojevic said he felt “no pain” even though he could feel the water coming in through the wetsuit.

"At this point, I was in white water, no pain or awareness of severity. I did think it’s minor, but I could feel that the wetsuit was ripped and cold water was coming in,” he said.

Once he made it back to the shore, he realised the severity of the injuries that decimated his plans of driving himself to the hospital. He turned to a fisherman for help.

“I yelled at the fisherman, ‘Hey! Help! Shark attack!’” he told KPIX. “It took some time to get his attention, but once he saw me I just kind of dropped onto the sand.”

The fisherman was by his side till the first responders arrived. He was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital where the doctors treated the 10 puncture wounds in his leg from the shark bite.

But despite the shark sinking its teeth into his leg, Mr Spasojevic feels he is the “luckiest man” in the world.

“I (am) probably the luckiest guy in the world, to get hit by a great white and walk out of the hospital the same day,” Mr Spasojevic told NBC Bay Area. “He didn’t thrash my leg. Gentle bite, let go.”

The attack, however, triggered the closure of the beach over the weekend. Even though, the Gray Whale Cove beach reopened on Monday, two days after the attack, there were fewer people on the beach.