Paul Leonard’s First Reactions and Actions in a Shark Attack

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Caution: potentially disturbing photos of shark attack wounds are included in this article towards the bottom.

One of the central swimmers in the new film Don’t Be Prey – that successfully premiered in London last week – is Paul Leonard (53 Great Britain, MSF bio here).

Leonard, along with his Red Top Swimming Club teammate Joanne Norman, is one of a handful of channel swimmers to have been bitten by a shark on a channel crossing.

Nothing Great Is Easy

Leonard described the cookiecutter attack and his remarkably composed reaction to the ultimate shock of a channel swimmer, “I was first bitten on the finger. It must have been with its upper teeth which the shark uses to latch on to body. It was a small bite, but gave me a shock.

I thought, ‘What was that?’

I knew it was small, but my immediate concern was with continuation of the swim. I did not want to fail. [I had invested] too much training and money into the attempt.

I had to re-focus – but immediately I thought about, ‘What should I do if it comes back?’

I surmised that it was probably a fish or turtle or something like that.

I decided to inform the kayaker, which I did in a slightly panicked manner and with lots of swearing. I hugged the kayak to ensure I was in range of Shark Shields which I would have been anyway.

Then I felt a searing sensation in my ankle. I could feel the teeth going in.

It wasn’t that painful, but in that moment, I knew exactly what happened and the likely culprit. I immediately knew the swim was over and I had to get out.

It was 100% flight over fight. I considered jumping on top of kayak to clear the water, but instead informed kayaker in an absolute panic and using every swear word I knew. I remember swimming hard with my head fully out of the water, legs kicking. I felt no pain.

Kayaker Jeff Villinger was on the radio to Captain Mike. Immediately, I could see the boat reversing towards us. Luckily, the boat wasn’t too far away. I then made a beeline towards the boat, heading away from the kayak. After I reached the back of the boat, I jumped onto the ledge. No ladder was needed.

On the boat, I could see the wound and a stream of blood, but still felt no pain. Someone told me to raise my leg to restrict the flow of blood. I have no idea who said that, but I obeyed the order. The kayaker who was back on the boat, then applied immediate first aid with pressure pads and wraps. I am forever grateful for that first aid. Jeff’s help was immediate and applied with confidence.

We made a beeline for Waikīkī Yacht Club. I was uncomfortable, but knew it was not life threatening and lay there thinking about whether to continue channel swimming. I made the decision to stop, but 48 hours later, I changed my mind.

As we passed Diamond Head, a flying fish lept out of the water, hit my wound, and then carried on under the boat’s canopy and back into the water. I find that part comical.

When we got back to port, I was taken to Queens Hospital [in Honolulu] where I received thirteen stitches.

The sensation of the teeth going in [me] is something I will never forget. It is quite hard to describe the feeling. I quite often think about it when lying in bed. Those events which were probably 3-4 minutes in length are burnt into my memory.”

The Aftermath

Despite the trauma and injury recovery of being attacked bitten by the cookiecutter shark during his Molokai Channel attempt in March, Leonard returned to Hawaii six months later and completed the 45 km crossing of the channel in 13 hours 50 minutes. He not only set a record in the Oahu-to-Molokai direction, but he also lined himself to achiev his Oceans Seven dream next year across the Tsugaru Channel in Japan.

Photos

Leonard shown on top celebrating his Molokai Channel crossing in October [on left] and smiling with his son Andrew Leonard [on top right]. Wound repair in Queens Hospital are shown below.