{"id":3024,"date":"2025-07-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/?p=3024"},"modified":"2025-07-21T10:23:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T10:23:11","slug":"a-shark-ate-my-arm-and-leg-i-wouldnt-change-a-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/2025\/07\/20\/a-shark-ate-my-arm-and-leg-i-wouldnt-change-a-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A shark ate my arm and leg \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t change a thing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Shark!\t<\/div>
Paul de Gelder has devoted his life to protecting sharks, even after a terrifying shark attack (Picture: ITV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 11, 2009, began as an average day for Paul de Gelder. He was conducting a military operation in Sydney Harbour as part of the navy, but while in the water he felt a whack on the back of his leg \u2013 it was the jaws of a bull shark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018I thought the guys on the boat got too close to me but I looked down and there\u2019s a massive shark\u2019s head attached to my leg.\u2019 Paul tells Metro.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m thinking, \u201cI\u2019ve seen Shark Week<\/a>, I\u2019ll jab it in the eye but I can\u2019t move my arm. I look down and my hand is trapped in the shark\u2019s mouth as well as my leg. I grab it by the nose, try to push it off me but it decides that I\u2019m breakfast, thrashes me around, takes me underwater and the pain is so all encompassing it takes the fight out of me. I was drowning in agony, being eaten alive and I realised there was nothing I could do, so I gave up.\u2019<\/p>\n

As Paul conceded defeat, the shark\u2019s teeth ripped off his hamstring and hand. His wetsuit made him buoyant and to his shock, he floated back to the surface and realised, by some miracle, he was still alive.<\/p>\n

\u2018My medical training kicked in. I kept the wound above my head and swam back with one hand and one functioning leg through a massive pool of my own blood.\u2019<\/p>\n

Hours later Paul woke up in hospital, relieved to see his leg was still attached. \u2018But I only had the leg for a week. I had my leg removed and the medication couldn\u2019t manage my pain so I went through 20 hours of agonising torture, wishing I would die.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Paul\t<\/div>
‘If the sharks die, the ocean dies,’ he stresses (Picture: Paul de Gelder\/Instagram)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"Bull\t<\/div>
An example of a bull shark (pictured here in Florida), the type of shark attacked Paul (Credits: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The attack was captured on film \u2013 and if you\u2019re so inclined, is available to watch on YouTube. The entire attack lasts for eight seconds \u2013 eight seconds that would completely change the course of Paul\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a living nightmare few of us could ever imagine, but 16 years later, Paul\u2019s life is quite astonishing. Unbelievably, he\u2019s now one of the world\u2019s leading shark conservationists, devoting his whole life to protecting the animal that almost killed him.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s determination to give sharks a rebrand combined with his personal relationship with the apex predator has taken him all over the world. But the turning point came when Australia\u2019s 60 Seconds, the biggest televised interview Down Under, called with a question: \u2018Would you be willing to face bull sharks again?\u2019<\/p>\n

Paul agreed to confront his fears, flying to Fiji to swim with bull sharks. \u2018They wanted tears but I gave them excitement and ended up feeding the bulls.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"NEW\t<\/div>
Paul appears in ITV’s new series Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters as an expert (Picture: Jose Perez\/Bauer-Griffin\/GC Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"This\t<\/div>
In the first episode of the show, the celebrities dive in a cage with sharks \u2013\u00a0after that, they’re in the open water (Picture: ITV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, he\u2019s just finished filming a new show for Shark Week, How To Survive A Shark Attack, where he flippantly tells me: \u2018I had to be attacked by sharks several times\u2019 and he\u2019s worked with A-list stars like Will Smith and Mike Tyson.<\/p>\n

He also helped British celebrities including Sir Lenny Henry and Countdown\u2019s Rachel Riley build up the courage to swim with one of the world\u2019s largest and deadliest species of sharks, the Tiger shark as part of ITV\u2019s Sharks! Celebrity Infested Waters<\/a>, an alarming new reality TV series marking the 50th anniversary of Jaws.<\/p>\n

Stephen Spielberg\u2019s 1975 horror is without a doubt the reason I\u2019ll suddenly panic swimming lengths in a swimming pool \u2013 the sea is completely out of bounds. My irrational fear of being eaten alive by a shark in the sea, a lake or even the bath is shared by millions, even if there are rarely more than 10 fatal shark attacks around the world every year.<\/p>\n

Call The Midwife\u2019s Helen George is in the same boat as me, and until filming the series had been too afraid to even put her head under water for 20 years, let alone free dive with one of the ocean\u2019s largest man-eating predators.<\/p>\n

On paper, it sounds like I\u2019m A Celebrity on steroids, but it\u2019s a surprisingly moving watch.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tWhat does Metro think of ITV's Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters? \t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

Columnist Adam Miller<\/a> shares his thoughts on the fascinating new series: <\/em><\/p>\n

On paper, Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters sounds like a Bushtucker trial ramped up to 100. <\/p>\n

An impressive cast, boasting Sir Lenny Henry, Countdown\u2019s Rachel Riley and McFly\u2019s Dougie Poynter, is helped by leading shark experts to come face to face with some of the most feared predators in the world in their natural environment.<\/p>\n

Even as somewhat of a shark obsessive (rarely a day goes by when I don\u2019t lose myself down a rabbit hole of shark videos on Instagram) I wasn\u2019t sure how or if Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters would work.<\/p>\n

Obviously, there\u2019s no real jeopardy \u2013 not that I\u2019d want that \u2013 but without it what is the pull?<\/p>\n

Reality television is at its best with camaraderie at its core, and I can\u2019t recall another show that shows teamwork quite like this.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s refreshing and actually quite a bold move not to have any contest running through Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters but it\u2019s a gamble that pays off.<\/p>\n

I had no idea what there would be to love about watching celebrities learning to dive but there are few reality shows which show so much growth and so quickly.<\/p>\n

To read more, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Celebrity Infested Waters' TV Show, Series 1, Episode 1, UK - 14 Jul 2025 SHARK! Celebrity Infested Waters, is a British ITV tv natural history and factual entertainment programme, which dares a group of ocean-phobic celebrities to confront their greatest fear - sharks. Throughout their adrenaline-fueled, challenge-heavy journey in Bimini, the Bahamas - the shark capital of the world - these A-listers will push past their limits to come nose to nose with nature's 'villains.' Their firsthand experiences will provide a perspective to appreciate sharks' valuable place on the food chain. The celebrities are tasked with diving with a different species of shark, with the breeds getting bigger and more dangerous each time. And also face fear inducing challenges whilst learning first hand the important role sharks play in our oceans.\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_258854932-1d73.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>He ‘wouldn’t change his life’ after what he’s been through (Picture: Adam Lawrence\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018The show is really touching\u2019 says Paul. \u2018It has all the emotions \u2013 fear, anxiety, happiness. Every spectrum of human emotion is there but it has an underlying message too. It\u2019s about the plight of sharks.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018People are out there killing sharks for fun every day and by doing so it\u2019s bringing us closer to extinction. If the sharks die, the ocean dies and we die. We\u2019re trying to get celebrities and the viewers to fall in love with sharks \u2013 which, granted, is hard because they keep biting people.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Chucking British national treasures into shark infested waters is another unexpected adventure for Paul, one more turn he didn\u2019t expect his life to take when his limbs were torn from his body.<\/p>\n<p>Few will ever know how they\u2019d respond to the trauma of a shark attack, particularly one quite so cataclysmic.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve rarely met someone with so much self-assurance, so much peace. Paul says coming close to death gave him freedom in life. \u2018It really just opened my mindset to becoming even more unlimited in what I want to in this world and with my life,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n<p>I wonder if he imagines what his life would look like without the attack?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I do to a very small degree. I wouldn\u2019t change it – there\u2019s no reason for me to change it. I don\u2019t know who that guy is because my life went this way and I love my life. I live in America. Arnold Schwarzenegger says hello to me at the gym in the morning. I’ve got great friends, I get paid to travel the world, have adventures and inspire people. What\u2019s not to love about that?\u2019<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters is available to stream on ITVX.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\">Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul de Gelder has devoted his life to protecting sharks, even after a terrifying shark attack (Picture: ITV) February 11, 2009, began as an average day for Paul de Gelder. He was conducting a military operation in Sydney Harbour as part of the navy, but while in the water he...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3024"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3024"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3033,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3024\/revisions\/3033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}