California survivor of shark attack recounts fight with animal

A man who survived being bitten several times by a shark while taking a dip off the coast of California says he fought so hard that he may have hit the animal inside its mouth before he then swam through his own blood to reach safety.

“I’m very thankful,” 46-year-old Caleb Adams said in an emotional interview with NBC News that aired Tuesday on the network’s Today show.

The general public faces slim chances of ever enduring what Adams did on 2 June. In 2023, there were just 69 shark bites worldwide – 10 of which were fatal – that were considered to be unprovoked, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File.

But such attacks dominated news headlines globally after Adams became one of at least four people in the US to be bitten by sharks in three different encounters only days apart, with the other cases occurring in Walton county, Florida.

As Adams told it, he and 18 other members of his open-water swim group were swimming off the shore of Del Mar, California, when he felt “a strong hit” to his body that he instinctively knew was a shark.

“I tussled with the animal for what was seconds,” said Adams, who punched the predator as best he could. “The second I struck the animal … I felt a softer tissue. I am going to speculate that was inside the shark’s mouth. And I had several cuts on my hand and wrist.”

Adams said that at that point, he realized he would not be able to make it out of the water alive on his own. He told NBC that he yelled “just two clear words” – “help” and “shark”.

Fellow swimming-group member Kevin Barrett heard what he knew was “a real scream” and headed to Adams as quickly as possible. The shark was gone, but Adams was bleeding profusely from his chest.

Barrett told NBC that he helped Adams swim back to shore, where “the traumatic extent of [the] injuries” became obvious. “It was not pretty,” Barrett added.

Adams emerged from the water only about 100 yards from a beach safety center, Del Mar city officials said in a statement. A lifeguard arrived, held up Adams’ chin with one hand and urged him to avoid looking down as first responders loaded him on to an ambulance, according to NBC.

Adams was taken to a local hospital to be treated for bites to his left hand and arm as well as his torso, said city officials, who temporarily closed the beach afterward.

According to NBC, Adams described feeling physically strong despite his wounds, which left him with stitches and scars along his arms and across his torso.

The attack unfolded along a coastline where white shark populations have been rising for years. Adams said he was grateful for having a “beautiful community to lean on” as he focused on recovering, but his complex sentiments about his ordeal bubbled to the surface when he returned to the Del Mar beach for his interview with NBC.

“It’s emotional being here – without question,” Adams said.