Dad ‘minutes from death’ saw ‘bright light’ after shark ripped off his leg

A dad who nearly bled to death after a shark ripped off his right leg has revealed how he saw a ‘bright light’ as he was minutes away from dying.

Glenn Dickson was savaged by a 10-foot bull shark – considered one of the world’s most dangerous – as he fished with three friends off the coast near his hometown of Mission Beach in Queensland, Australia.

And it was thinking of his beloved fiancée that kept the father-of-three alive and stopped him succumbing to the ‘bright light’ and his appalling injuries.

The 27-year-old, who is a semi-professional kickboxer and boilermaker, had dived down into the ocean with a speargun, only to be preyed upon by a bull shark.

It tore through his thigh with its razor-sharp teeth, then ripped off his calf muscle.

Several times during the five hours it took to sail back to dry land and reach a hospital, Glenn recalled seeing "a bright white light" rising above his eyes.

He said: "At one stage, there was so much blood pouring out of my leg that I was just minutes from death. I lost half the blood in my body.

"I could see a bright light in my eyes and knew that if I allowed it to overcome me, I wouldn’t come back.

“But the thought of my beautiful wife-to-be, Jessie-Lee, and our lovely children made me hold on and not let go."

After a six-hour operation to try and stop the blood loss, by amputating his right leg, Glenn survived.

However, things had been so touch-and-go, he had waited for Jessie-Lee to arrive before going into surgery, so he could say goodbye.

Despite his amputation – and grateful to be alive – the keen athlete returned to the gym wearing a prosthetic just three months after his terrifying ordeal.

But his greatest achievement was walking down the aisle to marry Jessie-Lee, 25, who he has known since he was four.

They chose the idyllic local beach, where they used to play together as children, to tie the knot.

They were supported by their own three flower-bearing children, Rees, five, Lylah, three, and Aurora, one.

"Marrying Jessie-Lee was something that, at one point, I thought would never come true," said Glenn.

"But it was an unforgettable day, the kind of thing that makes you remember what is really important in life, and I’m just so grateful that I was able to make it out of hospital alive and have that."

Glenn has been an enthusiastic fisherman since childhood.

He took up spearfishing – a method of fishing which involves diving into the water and shooting fish at close-range with a speargun – in 2016, when his friend Rick Bettua, 56, offered to teach in him in exchange for kickboxing lessons.

Enjoying regular trips together in Rick’s Cootacraft boat in Coral Sea just off Queensland, in north eastern Australia, the pair were spoilt for choice with over 1,500 species of fish living in the waters surrounding the Great Barrier Reef.

Often seeing sharks swimming nearby, they rarely had any trouble from them and prodded them with their spearguns if any came too close for comfort.

"Sharks are just carnivores like us, who need to eat to survive, and seeing them so frequently – maybe once every trip – you get used to them being there," said Glenn.

"It can be a little discomforting when they swim near you, but I’d never had any reason to be frightened of them."

That changed on February 18 2017, when Glenn, Rick and their pals, Peter and Aaron, set out early in the morning, to make the most of the beautiful, sunny day.

Leaving before Jessie-Lee or their children were awake, Glenn recalled: "It was an incredible day and the water was unusually calm."

He also remembered the ocean being far murkier than normal, meaning the friends struggled to see very far ahead when they jumped into the water near the reefs, about 20 km from dry land.

Swimming towards a rocky outcrop in search of tusker fish, Glenn momentarily stopped in the water, realising that the cable attaching his spear and his gun was tangled.

In a split second, a fully-grown bull shark rose from the depths towards the distracted angler, clamping its jaws down on his right leg.

"It took me completely by surprise," said Glenn. "I just felt this awesome jolt smash right through my entire body.

"It had my whole leg inside its mouth, with its teeth in my thigh going right down through into the bone."

Shaking and twisting at the fisherman’s semi-swallowed limb, the shark attempted to gnaw through his femur, or thigh bone.

When it couldn’t bite it off, it regurgitated the part of the limb it was trying to swallow, giving Glenn – by then floating in his own blood – a window of opportunity to swim for safety.

"I knew that he was going to come back for me, so I had to try and get out of the water," said Glenn, who used his three working limbs to swim towards a nearby rock.

"But before I could reach it the shark came at me again. I remember seeing him approach me through clouds of my own blood."

The second bite snatched Glenn’s calf muscle, which he now believes to have been a stroke of luck, as the shark could have attacked his head or body.

Bleeding profusely, with parts of his flesh hanging off, he summoned the strength to scramble up the rock, from where his friends in the boat were able to drag him to safety.

Using his military training, Rick, a former US marine, immediately tore off his diving belt and used it as a tourniquet, to help slow the the flow of blood, pouring from Glenn’s major femoral artery.

"That probably saved my life," said Glenn, who was struggling to breathe and had turned icy cold.

"You can bleed to death within three minutes and it was an hour-long journey back to the shore.

"Peter and Aaron had never seen anything like it and were pretty shaken up, vomiting over the boat, although Rick, having seen dramatic injuries on active duty, remained very calm.

He said: "I was falling in and out of consciousness and Rick had to resuscitate me about four or five times. He knew that if I fell asleep, I wouldn’t come back again.”

Several times, seeing a bright light as his eyelids began to close, Glenn felt he was sure to die if he gave in to the "comforting and warm feeling" it seemed to offer.

But just as he started to slip away, the thought of his three children and beautiful fiancée waiting at home would flash into his mind.

He added: "Seeing their faces and thinking how I might be deprived of having a wonderful future with them, pushed me not to give in – to force my body to stay alive and to get back to my family."

Eventually reaching dry land, Glenn was hooked up to a saline drip by paramedics on the ground, while they waited for a helicopter to take him to Cairns Hospital.

By this stage, Jessie-Lee had been informed of the attack and was on her way to hospital, where she met Glenn seconds before amputation surgery.

"I knew she was on her way, but the doctors were telling me that I had to get into the operating theatre as soon as possible, to stop the blood that was haemorrhaging out of me and causing my organs to close down," he said.

"Still, I think they knew that there was quite a strong chance I’d never see her again – so they let me wait for her, to say what could be my final goodbyes.

"I asked her for what could be my last kiss and took off my oxygen mask even though doctors were telling me to keep it on.”

But surgery was a success and, afterwards, Glenn was put into an induced coma for a week, because of fears that the shock of attack could have lasting damage on his brain.

Despite recovery taking some patients years, just over a month later and against the expectations of medical experts, Glenn left hospital and three months later was walking with a prosthetic leg.

"I wanted to prove the medical team wrong and do better than the doctors expected," he said.

"As an athlete, I’m used to pushing myself all the time, and fighting the urge to relent.

"I thought, ‘This isn’t going to stop my life. I’m going to carry on and get back on track with things.’"

Soon, he was back at the gym lifting weights and, just a month after being fitted with a prosthetic, returned to the ring sparring with his old kickboxing partners.

Sadly, however, he has not gone back to his boilermaking job, as the heat makes him sweat, causing his carbon fibre limb to slip from his stump.

Because of this, the couple could not afford the wedding they had been meticulously planning.

But, thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers, who donated Jessie-Lee’s dress and around $3,000 AUD ( £1,670) to help them, they went ahead with the beach ceremony of their dreams, surrounded by their family and friends, on October 6, 2018.

"As we were exchanging our vows, our three kids came running up to us and stood next to us in front of everyone," said Glenn.

"It was great, we didn’t mind, because we are a very relaxed kind of family that treasures spending time with each other."

Now working as a personal trainer, specialising in kickboxing, Glenn will soon be opening his own gym, which he has helped to fund through a donation page that has raised several thousand pounds.

Never one to sit still for long, he also has his sights set on competing in the Paralympics for running.

And he remains a keen spearfishing fan, fearlessly returning to the waters where he was attacked, albeit with just one flipper now.

"The chances of one shark attack happening are pretty slim, so for it to happen twice would be unbelievable and, logically, it doesn’t make sense to stop doing the thing I love," he said.

"I want to carry on with my life and keep working and training.

"People sometimes find it surprising to see a one legged kickboxer, but more than that they see me as an inspiration.

"Because it doesn’t matter how unexpected the things that life can throw at you – you can still get over it and move on."

For Jessie-Lee, Glenn’s attack was devastating.

She said: "It all felt like a terrible nightmare. When I got the phone call telling me what had happened, I was hysterical and in a state of complete shock.

"But Glenn has recovered amazingly well, and getting married this year was wonderful.

"Because when your world gets turned upside down by something like that, you realise that you can’t take life for granted."

For Glenn’s donation page click here.

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