During an early morning training session, a bull shark leapt from the depths of the ocean to the surface and struck the triathlete’s leg.
“It hit me about thigh high. It came up from the bottom. I didn’t see it,” Chuck Anderson told Fox News Digital about the attack in 2000. “I came out of the water a little bit and started treading water. I yelled for Karen (his training partner) to go to the beach.”
Anderson said he put his face underwater to see what was coming and “saw the shark coming towards me from the bottom again.”
“I threw my hand out at him and he ripped off all four fingers on my right hand,” Anderson said. “I put my right hand in the air and tried to paddle towards the beach with my left hand…I saw there was blood everywhere and I thought, ‘Oh my God. This is bad.'”
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Chuck Anderson spent 13 days in intensive care after a near-death encounter with a bull shark. (Chuck Anderson)
Anderson continued searching the water for the shark while trying to escape.
At the time, he was swimming in about 12 to 15 feet of water and about 150 yards from a beach on the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Alabama, police said.
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Anderson said the bull shark attacked again, this time hitting the fish in the abdomen.
It was the third round of a four-round bout, and the Shark had circled Anderson, poised to finish him off.
During an ecotourism shark dive off the coast of Jupiter, Florida, on May 5, 2022, a bull shark approaches to inspect tourists and their cameras. (Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Chuck Anderson remembers laughing after the attack. When asked why he was laughing, Anderson replied, “I told you I’ve been attacked by sharks four times, and now I’m standing on the beach telling you all this.” (Chuck Anderson)
“This time, I actually saw the fin in the water coming straight towards me, so I tried to come up with a strategy,” said Anderson, who was preparing to fight if the shark got too close.
But his plan backfired.
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“I thought I’d pushed the shark away, but my arm went into its mouth and it dragged me to the bottom,” Anderson said. “It shook me around. My shoulders and hips were covered in scrapes and bruises.”
“When I was underwater, I had a conversation with God and asked him to bring me back to the surface and give me at least one more chance to see my children.”
Chuck Anderson prayed that he would see his children one more time while he was underwater in the shark’s mouth. Now he is alive and surrounded by his family. (Chuck Anderson)
Portrait of a female bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Caribbean Sea, near Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Luis Javier Sandoval/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Call it luck or divine intervention, but the shark pulled him to the surface.
“I don’t know why, but the shark came up to the surface with my right hand in its mouth,” Anderson said.
“My left hand hit him on the nose and he pushed me straight towards the beach. I was going really fast. People on the beach saw it and said it looked like I was on skis.”
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Anderson said he eventually made it to a sandbar about 10 yards from the shore and “wriggled away” from the shark.
He survived a four-round battle with the tenacious bull shark, known for its sturdy, powerful body and aggressive, territorial nature.
“She said, ‘Oh my gosh, my gosh, you’ve got no arms’… and asked me why I was laughing… I’ve been attacked by sharks four times and now I’m standing here on the beach talking to you.”
Chuck Anderson continued competing after a near-death encounter with a bull shark. (Chuck Anderson)
Anderson remembers Karen laughing and having an innocent attitude when he finally met her again.
“She said, ‘Oh my gosh, my gosh, you’ve got no arms,’ and then she looked at me and asked me why I was laughing,” he said. “I told her I’ve been attacked by sharks four times, and now I’m standing on the beach talking to you.”
“I can’t believe I’m alive…I’m supposed to be dead.”
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Anderson was rushed to a nearby hospital after losing about two-thirds of the blood in his body, but doctors were able to save his elbow.
He spent 13 days in intensive care, where he underwent several surgeries.
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Chuck Anderson was attacked four times by bull sharks while training as a triathlete in Alabama. (Chuck Anderson)
Bull sharks are aggressive and territorial. (Getty)
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Despite the injuries and blood loss, Anderson said the “most dangerous thing” about the attack was being underwater for so long – inhaling seawater, a common occurrence among scuba divers – and inhaling a seawater mist that attacks the lungs.
His high school coach, Chuck Anderson, was nearly killed by a shark, but that didn’t stop him from loving life and joking around with everyone. (Chuck Anderson)
“When I got to the hospital, my fever had risen to 106 degrees, so they put me in an artificial coma and kept me there for five days,” Anderson said. “They had to get the infection out. Once I was out of the coma, I could start the recovery process.”
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“I’m lucky.”
Given how the attack unfolded, it seems puzzling to hear Anderson say he’s “lucky” and grateful.
But he said that if the shark had bitten him in the stomach instead of ramming him, he would have lost consciousness, and if the shark had dragged him further away instead of to the beach, he would not have been able to get back to shore.
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“I’ve never felt sorry for myself that day because I know how lucky I was and there were so many good things that happened that allowed me to survive,” Anderson said.
“I have never had any animosity towards the sharks. It’s their territory and I’m just grateful I’m still alive.”
He still loves the beach, he still loves the ocean, “and he wants people to continue to enjoy the ocean,” he says.
Chuck Anderson lost his right arm after being attacked four times by a bull shark. (Chuck Anderson)
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Shark attacks are so rare that “there is no need to discourage people from going near the ocean.”
“I respect sharks and it’s a shame he lost his right arm to a shark. If I ever meet the guy again I’ll have some harsh words to say,” Anderson joked.
“But sharks are part of the ecosystem and if we affect that ecosystem then the ocean we love will be affected. I don’t want that to happen. I want people to respect the sharks’ territory.”
