Terrifying moment 8ft shark sinks teeth into spear fisherman’s leg as pal frantically pulls swimmer back to boat

THIS is the terrifying moment an eight-foot shark sank its teeth into a spear fisherman’s leg and ripped open an artery. Parker Simpson was swimming off the coast of Florida, USA, when the reef shark “came out nowhere” and attacked him. Speaking to The Times, Simpson said he was out spearfishing with his friends off […]

THIS is the terrifying moment an eight-foot shark sank its teeth into a spear fisherman’s leg and ripped open an artery.

Parker Simpson was swimming off the coast of Florida, USA, when the reef shark “came out nowhere” and attacked him.

Speaking to The Times, Simpson said he was out spearfishing with his friends off the islet of Boca Chica and was recording the excursion with a camera tied to his mask.

The group had just caught a 34-inch black grouper fish when the attack happened.

The footage shows Simpson looking around the water to catch more fish when a shark torpedoes at him tearing off some flesh on his leg.

“As soon as it turned towards me it began to accelerate and its pectoral fins were down — that’s pure aggression,” he said.

“Faster than I could do anything, he was right up against my fins already.

“He grabbed the left fin, then he bit into the right — took a chunk out of it — then bit my leg.

“I was stabbing at it. I knew right off the bat that it was bad.”

The clip shows Simpson flailing in the water as the shark manoeuvres around him before disappearing into the sea.

Simpson looks down in the footage to show flesh hanging from his leg and blood pouring into the water.

“I put my hand over the wound and tried to swim but after about ten to 15 seconds I’m realising I just can’t use this leg anymore,” he said.

Simpson then shouts to his friends for help with one of them frantically pulling him back to safety.

According to Simpson, the beast had torn his tibial artery but despite his injury, he said he still loves sharks.

If it wanted me dead, I would be dead.”

Parker Simpson

“They are beautiful creatures and perfect hunters,” he said. “If it wanted me dead, I would be dead.”

The footage was filmed in 2017 but has resurfaced due to the number of recent shark attacks across the world.

Last month a teenager was attacked by a shark while surfing off a beach in Florida that has been branded the world’s “bite capital”.

Doyle Nielsen, 16, was paddling in the water off New Smyrna Beach on September 9 when the accident happened.

Footage uploaded to Instagram showed the finned beasts navigating through the water as surfers tried to take advantage of the strong currents left by Hurricane Larry.

Just yesterday, a surfer was surrounded by sharks after he became caught up in a school of fish in Brevard County, Florida.

Heart-stopping snaps – taken by his partner Laura Evans near the Sebastian Inlet – show dorsal fins poking out of the water just inches away from Eli.

As the predators closed in, Laura quickly took some pictures of the terrifying scene.

Avid surfer Eli told Fox35: “They were jumping everywhere. One of them hit me in the head.

“I think a big tarp went underneath my board and I didn’t realise there was a shark behind me.”