November 28, 2023 • 6 mins
The incredible Paul de Gelder joins Jonesy & Amanda to chat about his harrowing experience.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
James and Amanda jam Nation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, my next guest is a former Australian Navy diver
who feared only two things in life sharks in public speaking,
But after losing part of his arm and leg and
a shark attack during a routine military exercise, he became
the two things that he feared. A motivational speaker and
a shark advocate. Who better to talk about Shark Week
than the man who knows how to survive a shark attack?
(00:25):
Paul de Gelder, Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hello, Paul.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Good guys.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Would you have imagined, years ago, before your close up
and personal incident with a shark, that you would have
been a shark advocate hosting Shark Week?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Absolutely not. I hated sharks.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I just thought if we killed them all, then we
could just swim free and clear in the ocean and
not have to worry about getting eaten.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
But you know, that was.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Living in ignorance, and as all things, knowledge to spells fear.
And after the shark attack, because I guess I'd never
blamed the shark, and the media kind of lashed onto
the pluses. You know, my recovery was quite awesome, I
would like to think, and so the media would come
to me with all these questions after shark interactions and
ask me what I thought about it, and why a
(01:12):
shark attacking people and how do we stay safe?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And I had no idea.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
And so I thought, well, you know what, I'd better
learn about this so I could give an educated opinion
instead of just an opinion, which we have so much
on social media these days.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It must be hard, though, because you lost your leg
and your arm or part of your leg in your arm.
What went first? What was the first thing that the
shark munched into?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Oh, Brendon, do you mind talking like I'm sorry?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I have It's all good, It's all good.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I've been doing this speaking job for years and years,
and so you know, I take great pride in being
able to have survived such a horrific thing. And you know,
I take the surgery photos and the actual footage of
the attack around when I do these presentations, and I've
had seventy people pass out in my audiences over the years,
so I've had to dial it back a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So no, I have no qualms. But it was all
in one bite. Wow, it grabbed me.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
So I was on the surface on my back, kicking
my legs moving from point A to point B, and
the bull shark came up from underneath me and I
had my hand by my side, so it got all
of my hamstring and my right hand in the same bite.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Wow, you said that since that accident that you have
far more knowledge and empathy for the shark. Do other
shark attack victims feel the same? Do you know how
many turn like you to shark protection.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I think a lot of them do, And I think
partially the reason for that is the people that are
being bitten by sharks, they're people that love the ocean,
and we have to understand that the ocean is a
wild place. It's not your backyard swimming pool. If you
want to be safe from sharks. Is a really easy
way not to be bitten by a shark, just you
(02:57):
don't go in the ocean. But for those of us
that do, it's like an unwritten waiver. You understand that
there are dangerous animals out there, especially around our beautiful coastline.
You know, we've got two of the world's deadliest jellyfish,
we've got the world's deadliest occopus. Apparently stingrays can kill
you now, and we've got sharks and so you know,
(03:17):
I think most people that do get bitten ocean loving people,
and they understand it wasn't malicious. It was just wrong place,
wrong time. But there are ways that we can mitigate
those risks as well.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
And how do you.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Other than not swimming in the ocean. But say I'm
in the water and a bull shark comes up to me,
what do you do?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
The very complex situation depends on a lot of variables,
whether you're diving, whether you're swimming, whether you're on a surfboard,
whether you're waiting the I guess the best way would
just be, against all natural instinct, stay calm, do not
thrash around. If you have goggles or a mask on,
you always keep your eyes on the shark because sharks
(04:00):
know when you're looking at them, and more often than not,
if you look at them, they're not going to be
driven by that predatory instinct of the chase to come.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Up and grab you. And I've dived with you know,
I've been surrounded.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
By four great whites that are at forty meters off the.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Coast of Western Australia without a cage.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
I've been in the water with seven to ten giant
tiger sharks, thirty bull sharks. And this works like We've
done experiments whereby I will face the other direction and
a tiger shark will be coming behind me, sneaking up,
and then I'll turn around when I get the radio call,
and I'll turn around and the shark's almost like embarrassed.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Oh mate, of.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Course, Oh, I wasn't going to do anything else, just
coming for a look. So you want to stay calm,
You want to keep your eyes on them, and you
want to get out of the water as fast as
you can without making too much of a splash.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Wow, that's quite the taste, Hey, Paul, we just want
to run a little cheste over them this morning. Wow.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Well, I actually did an experiment as well where we
drained a leader of my blood into a bag and
then I jumped off the back of the boat and
the Bahamas, surrounded by a tiger sharks, hung their heads
or bull sharks, and then I ripped the bag open.
I was engulfed in this plume of my own blood,
and the sharks did nothing. They weren't attracted to the blood.
(05:16):
There's different pH levels and bat levels and things like that.
Then they threw a bucket of fish blood into the water,
and I had to swim through that, and that was
a vastly different experience.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But do you have any post traumatic issues that you're
seeing your own blood swirl around you and there are
sharks in the water.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
No, I don't think I do. You know, I've never
had nightmares, I've never had flashbacks. Whether I have PTSD
or not, that's I don't know. I feel like that's
a pretty hard question for someone who has it to
answer or someone who doesn't. I actually started thinking there
was something wrong with me because there wasn't something wrong
with me.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
What's your favorite shark out of all the sharks?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Oh, it's like asking me what my favorite animal is.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
I find them all miraculous in every way, from the big,
alien shaped hammerhead shark to the beautiful and cruisy, chill
tiger sharks, and then the aggression and majesty of the
great white all the way down to the weird and
beautiful like the ninja lantern sharks that glow and live
(06:19):
fifteen hundred meters below the surface.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So you know, I'm going to get a tiger shark
because I've got some rubbish I need to get rid of.
And it's so hard to just dump your.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Put it under a sink. It'll be like from the Flintstone.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Paul.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
We can talk to you all day.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
This is fascinating.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Paul to girl, and thank you for Johnny's. You can
stream or watch Shark Week from Sunday at seven thirty
on the Discovery Channel.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Paul, thank you for joining us. Cheers, guys, thanks for
having me.
James and Amanda jam Nation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, my next guest is a former Australian Navy diver
who feared only two things in life sharks in public speaking,
But after losing part of his arm and leg and
a shark attack during a routine military exercise, he became
the two things that he feared. A motivational speaker and
a shark advocate. Who better to talk about Shark Week
than the man who knows how to survive a shark attack?
(00:25):
Paul de Gelder, Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hello, Paul.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Good guys.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Would you have imagined, years ago, before your close up
and personal incident with a shark, that you would have
been a shark advocate hosting Shark Week?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Absolutely not. I hated sharks.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I just thought if we killed them all, then we
could just swim free and clear in the ocean and
not have to worry about getting eaten.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
But you know, that was.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Living in ignorance, and as all things, knowledge to spells fear.
And after the shark attack, because I guess I'd never
blamed the shark, and the media kind of lashed onto
the pluses. You know, my recovery was quite awesome, I
would like to think, and so the media would come
to me with all these questions after shark interactions and
ask me what I thought about it, and why a
(01:12):
shark attacking people and how do we stay safe?
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And I had no idea.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
And so I thought, well, you know what, I'd better
learn about this so I could give an educated opinion
instead of just an opinion, which we have so much
on social media these days.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It must be hard, though, because you lost your leg
and your arm or part of your leg in your arm.
What went first? What was the first thing that the
shark munched into?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Oh, Brendon, do you mind talking like I'm sorry?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I have It's all good, It's all good.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I've been doing this speaking job for years and years,
and so you know, I take great pride in being
able to have survived such a horrific thing. And you know,
I take the surgery photos and the actual footage of
the attack around when I do these presentations, and I've
had seventy people pass out in my audiences over the years,
so I've had to dial it back a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
So no, I have no qualms. But it was all
in one bite. Wow, it grabbed me.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
So I was on the surface on my back, kicking
my legs moving from point A to point B, and
the bull shark came up from underneath me and I
had my hand by my side, so it got all
of my hamstring and my right hand in the same bite.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Wow, you said that since that accident that you have
far more knowledge and empathy for the shark. Do other
shark attack victims feel the same? Do you know how
many turn like you to shark protection.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I think a lot of them do, And I think
partially the reason for that is the people that are
being bitten by sharks, they're people that love the ocean,
and we have to understand that the ocean is a
wild place. It's not your backyard swimming pool. If you
want to be safe from sharks. Is a really easy
way not to be bitten by a shark, just you
(02:57):
don't go in the ocean. But for those of us
that do, it's like an unwritten waiver. You understand that
there are dangerous animals out there, especially around our beautiful coastline.
You know, we've got two of the world's deadliest jellyfish,
we've got the world's deadliest occopus. Apparently stingrays can kill
you now, and we've got sharks and so you know,
(03:17):
I think most people that do get bitten ocean loving people,
and they understand it wasn't malicious. It was just wrong place,
wrong time. But there are ways that we can mitigate
those risks as well.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
And how do you.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Other than not swimming in the ocean. But say I'm
in the water and a bull shark comes up to me,
what do you do?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
The very complex situation depends on a lot of variables,
whether you're diving, whether you're swimming, whether you're on a surfboard,
whether you're waiting the I guess the best way would
just be, against all natural instinct, stay calm, do not
thrash around. If you have goggles or a mask on,
you always keep your eyes on the shark because sharks
(04:00):
know when you're looking at them, and more often than not,
if you look at them, they're not going to be
driven by that predatory instinct of the chase to come.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Up and grab you. And I've dived with you know,
I've been surrounded.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
By four great whites that are at forty meters off the.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Coast of Western Australia without a cage.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
I've been in the water with seven to ten giant
tiger sharks, thirty bull sharks. And this works like We've
done experiments whereby I will face the other direction and
a tiger shark will be coming behind me, sneaking up,
and then I'll turn around when I get the radio call,
and I'll turn around and the shark's almost like embarrassed.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Oh mate, of.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Course, Oh, I wasn't going to do anything else, just
coming for a look. So you want to stay calm,
You want to keep your eyes on them, and you
want to get out of the water as fast as
you can without making too much of a splash.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Wow, that's quite the taste, Hey, Paul, we just want
to run a little cheste over them this morning. Wow.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Well, I actually did an experiment as well where we
drained a leader of my blood into a bag and
then I jumped off the back of the boat and
the Bahamas, surrounded by a tiger sharks, hung their heads
or bull sharks, and then I ripped the bag open.
I was engulfed in this plume of my own blood,
and the sharks did nothing. They weren't attracted to the blood.
(05:16):
There's different pH levels and bat levels and things like that.
Then they threw a bucket of fish blood into the water,
and I had to swim through that, and that was
a vastly different experience.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
But do you have any post traumatic issues that you're
seeing your own blood swirl around you and there are
sharks in the water.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
No, I don't think I do. You know, I've never
had nightmares, I've never had flashbacks. Whether I have PTSD
or not, that's I don't know. I feel like that's
a pretty hard question for someone who has it to
answer or someone who doesn't. I actually started thinking there
was something wrong with me because there wasn't something wrong
with me.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
What's your favorite shark out of all the sharks?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Oh, it's like asking me what my favorite animal is.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
I find them all miraculous in every way, from the big,
alien shaped hammerhead shark to the beautiful and cruisy, chill
tiger sharks, and then the aggression and majesty of the
great white all the way down to the weird and
beautiful like the ninja lantern sharks that glow and live
(06:19):
fifteen hundred meters below the surface.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So you know, I'm going to get a tiger shark
because I've got some rubbish I need to get rid of.
And it's so hard to just dump your.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Put it under a sink. It'll be like from the Flintstone.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Paul.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
We can talk to you all day.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
This is fascinating.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Paul to girl, and thank you for Johnny's. You can
stream or watch Shark Week from Sunday at seven thirty
on the Discovery Channel.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Paul, thank you for joining us. Cheers, guys, thanks for
having me.
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