Shark victims thinking of their next wave

Published Jul 4, 2015

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Plettenberg Bay - The two UCT students who were attacked by sharks off beaches along the Garden Route last week are in good spirits and recovering well.

Despite the attack at Lookout Beach, a popular surf spot in Plettenberg Bay eight days ago, Dylan Reddering, 19, is already dreaming of his next wave from his hospital bed in Knysna.

“I’m very lucky and grateful that I have walked away from this knowing that I’ll make a full recovery,” he said this week.

Reddering suffered severe lacerations and muscle damage to the right side of his body – injuries that required surgery.

But just how lucky he was to have survived the ordeal only hit home the next day, when he received news that fellow UCT student Caleb Swanepoel, also 19, had lost his right leg in a shark attack at Buffels Bay outside Knysna.

He is in the George Mediclinic where he had surgery.

His father, Luc Swanepoel, said: “He is very positive and doing well. He took his first steps with his physiotherapist this week. The only enemy now is possible infection.”

Reddering said he would definitely consider getting back in the water once he was fully recovered.

“My heart really goes out to him (Swanepoel).

“I can’t even begin to imagine what he must be going through.”

 

Reddering, who grew up in Plett and was home for the holidays, said he had just finished giving two young boys a surfing lesson when he grabbed a friend’s surfboard and wetsuit and went for a paddle.

“I didn’t have my board or my wetsuit in Plett so I borrowed a friend’s. His board is a lot wider and thicker than my own, and I believe that this actually saved my life.

“I had just surfed my last wave, as it was getting dark and cold, when I saw another nice set come through. As I paddled towards it I was suddenly hit. It was so powerful; it felt like I’d been hit by a car. I knew it was a shark.”

He immediately started kicking and punching at the water in case the shark was still around, using the board as a shield.

“Luckily the set I was paddling for reached me at that time and I could ride my way back to shore.

Reddering looked down and realised he had been bitten.

 

“I could see the gash, but I immediately knew I was okay and hadn’t damaged a major artery as there wasn’t excessive blood.”

Fellow surfers – Wotjeck Orzechowski, his son Taj, Adriaan Augustyn and Lloyd Chapman – came to his aid.

 

Reddering said his fellow surfers kept him calm and put pressure on his wounds until emergency services arrived.

Another Plett local, Pieter Boschoff, gave him a jacket and beanie to keep him warm.

After being stabilised at the Plettenberg Bay Medi-Clinic, Reddering was transferred to the Life Knysna Private Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

He said that despite the attack, he did not see sharks as the “monsters” many made them out to be.

“Every surfer faces that risk when out in the water. We are in their territory and they are predators.

“In most cases (attacks on humans) are just a case of mistaken identity.”

He said the shark that bit him had struck from below, first hitting the underside of the board.

“You can see from the angle of the gash that the shark realised that it had not bitten into food, and pulled away,” he said.

Director of research at Oceans Research in Mossel Bay, Enrico Gennari, agreed with Reddering.

He said sharks investigated possible food by taking a bite. As soon as they realised that what they had bitten into was not food, they moved away.

“Unfortunately they have very sharp teeth and the damage of a nibble is severe,” Gennari said.

He believed the increase in shark encounters along the coast could be attributed to the annual sardine run.

Both youngsters said they had been overwhelmed by support and love from friends, their families and the community. –

Garden Route Media

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