A man is recovering after a surprise great white shark encounter.
Jared Trainor, 31, was surfing Oct. 2 near Centerville Beach. On his way to the beach, he remembered it was October, which locals call “Sharktober” because of the increase on the North Coast of shark activity in the area.
He watched the surf and spotted seals hanging out in the whitewash, which is normal, but there also seemed to be more seals than normal. Eventually, ha nice set roll in and suited up.
He paddled past the breakers and sat on his surfboard with his legs in the water waiting for the next set.
As he waited, he thought about a recent surf video he’d watched, where the person talked about minimizing your limbs hanging out of the water. Before he knew what was happening, he was underwater.
The hit was so quick, Trainor had no time to react.
The next thing he remembered was being four feet below the surface. The Fortuna resident surmised the shark came directly from underneath with such force it knocked him off the board, but only for him to land back on it.
RELATED: 12-foot white shark bites North Salmon Creek Beach surfer Oct. 3.
Based on photos of the board and wound, it is possible the shark struck from the side with such force it straight pushed him underneath the water.
The shark had its lower jaw on the board and its upper on Trainor’s leg, but Trainor wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. He felt pain in his knee and thought he was being attacked by a seal.
He began to fight and grabbed the body of the shark with his right hand and started kicking the shark in its head with his left leg. The shark released its grip and swam away.
Trainor paddled back in to see another surfer watching him. Once in the surf line, the surfer asked if the “thing” got him. Trainor, still unsure if a shark or seal had hit him, asked the person what happened.
Unaware of how severe his injuries were, he walked back to his truck. When he finally realized how badly he was injured, he called 911. After a tourniquet was applied, he was rushed to the hospital as his heart nearly gave out due to blood loss.
Doctors performed surgery on his medial collateral ligament and used staples to close the nearly 19-inch half-moon injury on his thigh.
Although he has some nerve injury, he worries more about talking to his son about the incident, because he doesn’t want him to lose interest in surfing.
The event won’t keep him out of the water. He has a trip planned to Hawaii and hopes to hit the waves while he’s there.
A GoFundMe has been set-up to help with mounting medical bills.
The location has been marked on the 2022 Shark Attack Map.
