A fishing content creator nearly lost his leg after a gray reef shark suddenly attacked him during a spearfishing trip in Fiji as his horrified friends watched from nearby.
Henry Gibbs was filming underwater on July 18 when the shark emerged from the depths and rushed toward him. Video from the incident showed Gibbs losing control of the camera and thrashing in panic as the shark bit into his right leg.
His friends, Colby and Dan, quickly pulled him from the water and began treating the wound before rushing him to a hospital.
Doctors were able to save Gibbs’ leg, but the injuries were severe. He underwent four surgeries and later needed a skin graft.
Despite the terrifying ordeal, Gibbs said he does not blame the shark.
“First dive in Fiji ended in a pretty nasty shark incident,” he told his followers. “Feeling incredibly lucky to still have my leg, full use of my foot, and to be on the mend.”
He added, “No hard feelings towards the shark. I was in its environment hunting its food.”
Gibbs, who has more than 113,000 followers online, shared footage of the attack on July 24. He said the experience left him with a much greater appreciation for life and made him realize how fortunate he was to survive.
The content creator had been spearfishing when he noticed several reef sharks swimming in the area.
He said he still does not know exactly what caused the shark’s behavior to change, but he believes noise from the boat or the spearguns may have played a role.
“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,” Gibbs said.
“Looking back, that should’ve been enough of a sign to call the dive.”
He admitted that he underestimated the danger because of the shark’s size.
“I never thought a shark of that size posed much of a threat, and that was a mistake,” he said.
Gibbs also shared several lessons he took away from the attack.
He urged divers to leave the water immediately if a shark’s behavior begins to change instead of waiting to see what happens.
“My main takeaways are, if a shark’s behavior starts to change, end the dive and move on,” he said.
He also recommended wearing plain black wetsuits in tropical waters, claiming he had since heard of multiple gray reef shark incidents involving divers wearing camouflage-patterned suits.
“Don’t judge the risk by the shark’s size,” Gibbs warned.
Now recovering from his injuries, Gibbs said he feels incredibly lucky to be alive, to still have his leg and to retain full use of his foot.
