A man who survived a shark attack off California’s coast last month is speaking from his hospital room.
Just three weeks back, Steve Bruemmer (62 years old) was swimming off Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove when he encountered a great White shark that was approximately 20 feet long.
“I was bit right across my thighs and my abdomen. And it grabbed me and pulled me up and then dove me down in the water,” Bruemmer said.
Now, he’s pulling himself out of bed. With his wife by his side, he’s even able to stand and speak about the ordeal.
“Then of course, it spit me out. I got myself back to the surface and started yelling for help, and that’s when all my luck changed,” Bruemmer said.
Good Samaritans Aimee Johns and Paul Bandy heard Bruemmer’s cries for help. The couple paddled as fast as possible towards the surfer in distress. Footage was taken that day.
“The three of them, in the bloody water, got me up onto the surfboard and pulled me onto the beach. Heroes! How do you get in bloody water with maybe a shark circling?” Bruemmer said.
Incredibly, Johns is a nurse, and Bandy is a cop, so they knew every second counted in saving Bruemmer’s life.
“It was almost as if someone had taken a knife and just cut his leg in half,” Johns said.
Another stroke of luck was awaiting you at the shore.
“There were two ICU nurses and a doctor at the beach who took their own T-shirts and made tourniquets. I had tourniquets on my legs within five minutes to stop the bleeding,” Bruemmer said.
Bruemmer is now at home after being discharged from the hospital. He is grateful to the hospital staff and all the good Samaritans that saved his life.
“I was in a tough spot, and they were so caring,”Bruemmer said that becoming emotionally is a good thing.
Bruemmer’s doctors credit his speedy recovery to being a triathlete and in good shape.