Emily Brown
A California man who was bitten by a great white shark has described the moment the huge creature spat him out after realising he was not what it had wanted to eat.
Steve Bruemmer was released from Natividad Medical Center in Salinas on Wednesday (13 July), three weeks after he came face-to-face with the shark while swimming in Pacific Grove near Monterey.
The 62-year-old was applauded by hospital workers as he left the facility in a wheelchair and proudly owned his story by donning a blue T-shirt emblazoned with the words 'Shark Attack Survivor' for the occasion.
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Prior to being released, Bruemmer spoke from his hospital bed about the incident that landed him in it, explaining the shark had chomped down across his thighs and abdomen before adding: "It spit me out."
The shark continued 'looking at' Bruemmer, he said, explaining it remained 'right next' to him so he thought it might try to bite him again. In a bid to stop that happening, the retired college professor said: "I pushed it with my hand and I kicked at it with my foot and it left."
Following the attack, Nicholas Rottler, a trauma surgeon at the medical centre, told KSBW-TV the shark's bite came within a millimeter of severing a major artery. Incredibly, however, no major damage was done to Bruemmer's bones or organs.
Sharing his thoughts on why the shark spat him out, Bruemmer said: "I'm not a seal. It took me for a seal. We're not their food."
The 62-year-old cried out for help following the attack and was rescued by two stand-up paddleboarders who just so happened to be a nurse and a police officer, as well as a surfer who took two boards from the beach to reach him.
Even though the shark could have still been in the area, Bruemmer described how the 'heroes' approached him in the 'bloody water' and managed to get him onto a surfboard, where they then pulled him to the beach.
The injured man was taken to a trauma centre for surgery and received 28 units of blood, after which he thanked the medical workers and blood donors for saving his life.
"I'm going home now," he said, adding: "I want to thank Natividad, and the Good Samaritans, and the people on the beach, and that lead-footed ambulance driver. Without all of you, I don't make it. And oh the blood donors - thank you so much. I'm going home. I'm gonna recover and I'm gonna be OK — thanks to you all."
Rottler noted Bruemmer's experience as a swimmer helped the survivor in his recovery, saying his upper body strength and cardiac endurance 'allowed him to improve faster than most patients'.
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