Skip to footer

How to survive a shark attack? Punch the shark

A California surfer was bitten by a shark near Humboldt Bay, but Scott Stephens says he punched the shark until it let him go.

|
(AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Shaun Walker)
Scott Stephens of Manila, Calif., answers a question at a news conference at a hospital in Eureka, Calif., on Wednesday, the day after a shark attack about 250 miles north of San Francisco.
  • By Staff Associated Press

| Eureka, Calif.

A California surfer who survived a shark attack says he punched the beast in the head until it finally released him.

Scott Stephens says the great white pulled him underwater Tuesday at a popular surf spot and let him go only after receiving the blows to its head.

Stephens said he went surfing around 10 a.m. Tuesday and was having a good day. He was catching waves about 150 yards from other surfers at Bunkers, a popular local surf spot near Humboldt Bay.

When the shark hit him, Stephens was paddling on his stomach. It immediately pulled him underwater.

”I opened my eyes underwater and punched the shark on the side of the head until it released me,” Stephens said, reports the Eureka Times-Standard newspaper.

Stephens was able to get back on his surf board and paddle back to shore. As he paddled, he called for help and several other surfers came to his assistance.

”I can't begin to say how appreciative I am of them,” Stephens said. “When I reached the beach, I realized how injured I was ..."

Doctors say Stephens suffered at least seven deep lacerations, but none of his vital organs was damaged. He was expected to be released form the hospital Thursday.

The 25-year-old thanked the doctors who operated on him and strangers who came to his aid. He says he plans to surf again.

RELATED: Top shark attack locations

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to How to survive a shark attack? Punch the shark
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1101/How-to-survive-a-shark-attack-Punch-the-shark
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe