Bondi Blues | Bondi Rescue

Part 13

The shark had gone behind me, and I was too nervous to paddle, so I stayed as still as I could. The shark's snout nudged the back of the board, and I did everything I could to stay on top of the board. "Chappo!" I screamed at the top of my lungs before I went under.

I was now face to face with a bull shark.

It had grabbed my left arm and managed to break skin with it's teeth, but before it could fully clamp down on my arm, I punched it in the eye as hard as I possibly could. It backed off for a moment, and when I looked up, I heard the jetski being launched again.

Chappo pulled up next to me and dragged me up onto the ski, and before I could grab the rescue board, the bull shark launched at it and took a chunk out of it. I screamed in terror as Chappo cursed, and he retreated back to shore. As I tried to get up, Chappo picked me up off the ski and brought me safely back onto the sand.

At this point, the beach was shut down. Gonzo had abandoned the Tower and sprinted down to me, as did Harries and Maxi. Somehow, Hoppo and Deano had shown up out of nowhere, and they called another paramedic to Bondi. I looked up at all the guys, who were freaking out about me, and I tried to lighten the mood by smiling and saying, "Hop, I forgot the board out there... Well, what's left of it." I laughed, and small smiles were returned to me.

I hadn't looked down at my arm yet. I looked up at Chappo, who had witnessed the whole ordeal, and asked, "Is it bad? Be honest, Chap, don't sugar coat." I felt okay, just a bit rattled and I knew I had lost some blood. Chappo looked me in the eye and said, "There's definite teeth marks on your arm, and they're not freakishly deep like the other guy's, but he got ya. You'll need a nice number of stitches."

I looked down at my arm and saw the crescent from where the shark had gotten me. The gashes looked kinda deep, but I knew that I wasn't in serious danger. I groaned, and everyone looked at me with panic, thinking I was showing how much pain I was in, but I just said, "I'm gonna have shark scars, aren't I?"

Now the boys were finally beginning to relax, which had been my goal all along. I was obviously in a fair amount of pain and about ready to go into shock, but I had to keep them calm as well. I could tell Troy was freaking out and holding back tears, and Maxi walked him away from me. Some of the boys went to meet the paramedics, which left me with Chappo, Hoppo, and Deano. Chappo smiled down at me and said, "You might have a few little scars, but nothing too bad. I promise. I had another mate who got bit up near Darwin like this and you couldn't tell he got bitten."

I smirked and said, "So you're just bad luck with your friends and sharks?" Chappo chuckled and said, "I guess so... Sorry about that, Charlie." Hoppo looked at me and asked, "How's the pain?" I replied, "It's starting to get a bit worse..."

The ambulance got to Campbell Parade in record time, and Deano and Hoppo walked me up to the Tower. Maxi was back with Troy, who had calmed down considerably. "I'll come with you to hospital," Troy said comfortingly, and I thanked him. Before I could open my mouth, Deano added, "I'm coming with as well." Hoppo looked at me and said, "You sure you're alright?" I nodded, and he said that the boys who weren't working would be down to visit me tomorrow.

*

I woke up to see both Deano and Troy sleeping in chairs on either side of my hospital bed. I looked at my phone and saw that it was around 8am, and my nurse came in and greeted me. She looked at my stitches under my bandage and was happy with how they looked, so she bandaged me back up and told me that she'd be back with discharge instructions and paperwork. That was the only thing I wanted.

I was scheduled for the afternoon shift, and once I had talked to the doctor and the nurse, they had told me that they would let me return to work if I promised to stay in the Tower until I got my stitches taken out and my wounds healed. I hastily agreed, and I was told I could leave when I was ready.

I got up out of bed and shook Deano awake with my good hand. He pried his eyes open and asked, "What're you doing out of bed?" I smiled and replied, "I was discharged, I have to head home and get ready for work." Deano did a double take and said, "If you think you're working-" Before he could say another word, I simply said, "Tower." He nodded, understanding that I still had limits, which calmed him down a bit.

We woke up Gonzo and headed out of the hospital. I told Hoppo that I was coming in to stay in the Tower and work today, and he warily said he'd let me. Maybe a minute after I got home, I got a text from my diving coach with an attached media story. "What's that?" Deano asked me as I started scrolling through the headline and the story.

Chomping on Charlie: National Team Diver Attacked by Shark at Bondi

I began to read the article out loud as I sat on the couch. Deano was next to me, and Troy was sitting on one of the bar stools.

Fresh off her win at the FINA Grand Prix in Sydney, Australian National Team member Charlotte Thompson was bit by a bull shark off Bondi Beach on Thursday night.

Thompson, who is splitting her time between training for the upcoming FINA World Championships and lifeguarding at Bondi Beach, was doing a rescue with a coworker when she was attacked by the shark.

Bystanders say that the attack was unprovoked, but the shark had attacked another man in the bay, who lifeguards had gone to help from the cliffs near the Icebergs.

The first victim of the bull shark, 17 year old Jason Witham, said that Charlie Thompson and another lifeguard, Chris Chapman, had paddled rescue boards almost 200 meters off shore to get him back to safety.

"The swells were great for surfing, and after I caught a few waves, I saw a shadow lurking in the waves. I thought nothing of it, but I was pushed toward the rocks and the shark grabbed hold of my leg," said Witham.

He elbowed the shark in the gills, giving him the opportunity to climb to safety as the shark fleed.

A bystander told The Australian, "She [Charlie] was almost in to shore, and the same shark came up, knocked her off her board, and got her arm. She punched it in the eye, and some of the lifeguards who were still there helped get her to safety."

Having just been released from hospital this morning, there's no telling how this will affect Australia's ambassador to the FINA World Championships both in training and in her job at Bondi.

We reached out to her coach, Jaime Robertson, as well as herself, but were unable to get a comment on the incident.

This is the first attack at Bondi in eight years, and this season has brought more sharks than usual to the shores of Bondi.

If you see a shark when you're swimming, lifeguards instruct you to move calmly, not erratically, and to never turn your back on the shark as you try to signal for help or get to safety.

I groaned at the publicity, and just when I was coming to terms with the fact that I was beginning to get recognized, Gonzo said that multiple other media outlets had come out with a similar story.

"You had to know this was coming, Charlie," Deano said, sighing. I replied, "Yeah, but they never reached out to me for comment! They made it sound like it was all me, Deano... I would have been dead if Chappo didn't come back out to get me." I could tell that Deano was a bit annoyed, so I got up and grabbed my keys. "Where are you going?" Gonzo asked me, concern evident on his face.

"I'm going to the Tower," I said flatly, the annoyance and frustration obvious in my voice. Deano was wound up himself, so he left me be. Gonzo, however, rushed out the door to chase me down the street and walk with me.

The whole walk, I vented to Gonzo.

I told him how I didn't want the attention and the publicity.

I told him that I just wanted to compete in the sport I loved for the country I love, and I just wanted to help save lives with a great group of guys.

The whole walk, Gonzo listened intently.

As we got to the Tower, he turned to me and said, "If you need me, just tell me. The guys are gonna be all over you today, but if you need space or just don't want any more questions, either tell them to back off or tell me and I'll tell them for you."

I thanked Troy for his support, and I had no idea what to expect as I stood on Campbell Parade and opened the door into the Lifeguard Tower.