An “incredibly lucky” influencer is recovering after a shocking shark attack that almost cost him his leg.
Henry Gibbs, a fishing content creator, has lifted the lid on a terrifying encounter with the predator during a dive.
The New Zealander even captured the vicious incident on camera, where the grey reef shark can be seen darting towards the panicked influencer.
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The full footage has not been released due to the graphic nature of the clip.
The incident took place during his first dive in Fiji, as reported by Need To Know.
Fellow divers Colby and Dan quickly got Gibbs out of the water and dealt with the wound before rushing him to hospital.
The attack left Gibbs requiring four surgeries and a skin graft on his right leg.
Fortunately, his leg is still intact and he still has full use of his foot.
Despite the horrific attack, which took place on 18 July, the influencer has “no hard feelings” towards the shark – admitting that he was “In its environment hunting its food”.
Henry said: “First dive in Fiji ended in a pretty nasty shark incident.
“Feeling incredibly lucky to still have my leg, full use of my foot and to be on the mend.
“Four surgeries and a skin graft later it’s looking like I’ll make a full recovery, which I’m hugely grateful for.
“No hard feelings towards the shark. I was in its environment hunting its food.
“For now, just feeling very lucky and with an even greater appreciation for life.”
Following the announcement of the attack on 24 July, footage was shared of the run-in with the shark to his 113,000 followers online.
Gibbs had dived into the water to do some spear fishing, noticing a number of grey reef sharks in the area.
To this day he still does not understand what spooked the animal so much to make it attack him.
Henry said: “It’s possible the commotion from the boat, the sounds of our spearguns, and the activity in the water gradually made this shark more interested or excited.
“I’ll never know exactly what caused the change, but eventually it started making tight semicircles beneath us, became increasingly agitated and even sprinted at the boat.
“Looking back, that should’ve been enough of a sign to call the dive. I never thought a shark of that size posed much of a threat, and that was a mistake.”
Henry also shared tips to follow when in the water with a shark.
He added: “I’ll never know exactly what triggered it.
“My main takeaways are;
“If a shark’s behaviour starts to change, end the dive and move on.
“Stick to plain black wetsuits in the tropics. I’ve since heard of several grey reef shark incidents involving divers wearing camouflage wetsuits.
“If a shark becomes agitated, erratic or increasingly aggressive, don’t ignore it.
“Don’t judge the risk by the shark’s size.”
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