A man attacked by a great white shark while surfing near Forster on the mid-north coast has paid tribute to the courage of Newcastle man Billy Eitz, who saved his life.
Mr Eitz was recognised for his courage this week as one of 15 Australians awarded a Bravery Medal by the Governor-General David Hurley.
Colin Rowland was surfing at his local break known as Bulls Paddock, just south of Forster, in December 2016 when without warning the then-62-year-old was launched into the air as the shark attacked.
"It came up and took me into the sky. The board exploded because it put its head right through my board at the same time," he said.
He recalls the great white was five to six metres long.
"This monstrous thing, I couldn't believe how big it was," he said.
Like a volcano erupting
For a few desperate seconds he fought off the shark, suffering deep cuts to his foot as he kicked it away.
"It still had my board stuck in its mouth, I was still attached to the board and then we played from there … as he dragged me round and went berserk," Mr Rowland said.
"They said it was like a volcano erupting in the water.
"Then he started swimming off with me. So I'm dragged underwater and then I started kicking down and I got him right in the nose, right down inside his mouth, just shredding my foot."
There was blood in the water but despite the danger, fellow surfer Billy Eitz of the Newcastle suburb of Merewether pulled him onto his own board and paddled in to shore where he administered first aid until paramedics arrived.
"Billy was about 25 metres away, he said I just kept disappearing all the time under the water. He just thought he was coming to a dead torso," Mr Rowland said.
"He was the hero, there was no way I could have swam in. I just started sinking, I had no energy left."
"He saved my life and I can't thank him enough."
Can't catch a wave
Mr Rowland said he took months to recover from the attack, but got back to surfing as soon as he could.
But he was surprised this year to realise that he could no longer catch a wave.
"This year it's just hit me where I've got post-traumatic stress," he said.
"I can paddle out and paddle around, but when I go to take off on a wave I just grab the board like I did when the shark attacked me and I can't jump up."
"I've been surfing for 58 years, but at the moment my body just goes into that fight-or-flight every time."
"I'm having treatment and doing lots of meditation, just trying to remove all the stress in my life."
