SHARK SHOCK

A Jamaican fisherman traumatised by the loss of his right arm in a shark attack on the weekend has recounted the harrowing brush with death in what seemed like a 15-minute battle.

Michael Simpson, who spoke with The Gleaner at May Pen Hospital where he remains admitted, cited determination as the only reason he was alive after a heart-stopping wrestling match with a 15-foot tiger shark.

“If mi never did a fight, mi dead out a sea,” said Simpson, who is from Lionel Town, Clarendon.

The veteran fisherman for 29 years set sail from Salt River in southeastern Clarendon around 8 a.m. on what was a familiar voyage but was stunned at the terror that would be unleashed some time after 2 p.m. that day.

The shark attack occurred somewhere between Half Moon Cay and Miller Bay.

Shark attacks are rare in Jamaican waters, but a number of incidents have been reported in the last two years.

With a heavily bandaged shoulder and a face of despondency, Simpson said that the tragedy has left him shell-shocked. Colleague fisherfolk, too, are devastated.

“When them bring me to the hospital, all of them start cry, and some of them take oath say them nah go back a no sea,” he said in the Gleaner interview.

“I have to fight fi mi life. Mi feel something bounce on me, but mi a think is one o' my friend dem, 'cause a so them love romp all the while, but when mi look, it was a shark, so mi start use the fish gun and start jook him 'til him start pull me.

“When him start pull me, the fish gun drop and mi go on him back and lap him and start wrestle him wid one hand.”

After several cries for help and failed efforts to escape the shark's clutches, Simpson said a boat driver was alerted to his ordeal and came to his assistance.

Simpson said the operator of the boat crashed into the shark, triggering its last flash of rage, as it tore off his arm just short of the shoulder.

“It looks like the shark hear when the boat a come an' a so him start flash mi like a bad dog and mi hand come off,” he said.

He was rushed to Lionel Town Hospital before being transferred to May Pen Hospital.

“I couldn't breathe 'cause I lost a lot of blood, so it coming like mi lungs lock dung ... . Mi just a tell them to throw water in my face, mouth, everything,” said Simpson of the bone-chilling experience.

Amid the ordeal, Simpson says he is grateful to be alive.

“I lose an arm, but a suh it go. Mi have to give God thanks, it coulda worse. I fight back and I am a winner today,” he told The Gleaner.

Weighing heavy on his mind, however, is the future of his family, especially with his teenage son set to graduate from Bustamante High School in July.

The breadwinner is worried that he will not be able to generate an income as a fisherman, as many of the tasks are already labour intensive.

Simpson, who was right-handed, said life has already become burdensome. It's still early days, but he has already found it awkward and cumbersome to operate as a leftie.

He is urging fishermen to be careful on seafaring expeditions.

“Don't make what happen to me ketch dem,” he warned.

Anyone wishing to contact Michael Simpson may call (876)236-9292.

olivia.brown@gleanerjm.com