Tough Mudder
My idea of a tough guy is someone who asks for their beer to be served up in a dirty glass.
So I was full of admiration for this chap from New Zealand, who was attacked by a shark but fought back with a trusty pen knife of sorts, before making good his escape, stitching up his bloody wounds and grabbing a cold beer - only then did he head for his local hospital.
According to this report from the Guardian, James Grant is a junior doctor which gives a whole new meaning to the old proverb: 'Physician, heal thyself!
Doctor fights off shark, then stitches up his own leg
New Zealander James Grant stabs predator with a knife to get free, swims ashore, sutures wounds and goes to pub for a beer
New Zealand doctor James Grant fought off a shark, then stitched his own wounds (actual shark not shown). Photograph: Martin Barraud/Getty Images
A New Zealand man has survived being attacked by a shark: driving it off with his knife, stitching his own wound onshore and going to the pub for a beer before heading to hospital.
James Grant, a junior doctor, was spearfishing with friends near Colac Bay at the base of the South Island on Saturday when he was attacked by what he believed was a sevengill shark.
The 24-year-old was in about two metres of murky water when he felt a tug on his leg, which he initially thought was a friend playing a trick on him. "I looked behind to see who it was and got a bit of a shock," he told Radio New Zealand.
He didn't see the shark and had no idea how big it was. He thought it might have been about 20cm across the jaw. However he felt no fear.
"[I thought] bugger, now I have to try and get this thing off my leg."
He already had a knife in his hand and stabbed at the shark. "I am not sure how effective it was. I guess it let go so something must have happened, put a few nicks in it."
A New Zealand man has survived being attacked by a shark: driving it off with his knife, stitching his own wound onshore and going to the pub for a beer before heading to hospital.
James Grant, a junior doctor, was spearfishing with friends near Colac Bay at the base of the South Island on Saturday when he was attacked by what he believed was a sevengill shark.
The 24-year-old was in about two metres of murky water when he felt a tug on his leg, which he initially thought was a friend playing a trick on him. "I looked behind to see who it was and got a bit of a shock," he told Radio New Zealand.
He didn't see the shark and had no idea how big it was. He thought it might have been about 20cm across the jaw. However he felt no fear.
"[I thought] bugger, now I have to try and get this thing off my leg."
He already had a knife in his hand and stabbed at the shark. "I am not sure how effective it was. I guess it let go so something must have happened, put a few nicks in it."
Sevengill shark. Photograph: José María Pérez Nuñez/Wikipedia/Flickr
He quickly made it on to rocks on shore, where he took off the wetsuit – borrowed from a friend – and saw the bites, up to five centimetres long.
Grant gave himself stitches using a first aid kit he kept in his vehicle for pig hunts. He and his friends then went to the Colac Bay Tavern, where he was given a bandage because he was dripping blood on the floor.The stitching was finished off when he went to Invercargill hospital, where he was back at work on Monday.
He quickly made it on to rocks on shore, where he took off the wetsuit – borrowed from a friend – and saw the bites, up to five centimetres long.
Grant gave himself stitches using a first aid kit he kept in his vehicle for pig hunts. He and his friends then went to the Colac Bay Tavern, where he was given a bandage because he was dripping blood on the floor.The stitching was finished off when he went to Invercargill hospital, where he was back at work on Monday.
