Man airlifted to hospital after shark attack off Irish coast speaks out

He's revealed how the incident unfolded

A man was airlifted to hospital after the Irish Coast Guard was alerted to the incident at around 4.15pm on Tuesday, 11 August.

The shark attack was confirmed and made public on Wednesday, 12 August.

The attack is reported to have happened off the coast of Co Waterford in southern Ireland, on board a small vessel south of Ardmore.

A spokesperson said a man on board the fishing vessel had a leg injury inflicted by a bite from a shark.

In a statement, they said: "The Coast Guard's Waterford based helicopter, Rescue 117, was tasked to the scene, as well as the Ballycotton RNLI all weather lifeboat and the Youghal RNLI inshore lifeboat.

"The man was winched on board... Rescue 117 and taken to Cork University Hospital and handed over into the care of the HSE.

"He's still in hospital."

A screenshot from a video claiming to be from the incident. Credit: X Screenshot.

Now, the man involved in the incident has spoken out for the first time since being attacked by the shark.

Speaking to the Irish Times, Sebastian Achim, 27, said that he feared "I’m not going to make it" after the bite.

The outlet revealed that the shark attacked Achim some time after the experienced angler had caught it, biting his calf and causing serious injury.

Achim is from Romania and lives in Dungarvan, going fishing regularly, which he described as his “passion”.

It was his first time fishing for blue shark on Tuesday, something he's been hoping to do for "a very long time".

Achim told the outlet: “We fished for a few hours. Everybody – the rest of the crew – caught their own shark. I finally managed to land my own, I got a 1.5m blue shark."

A blue shark. Credit: Adobe Stock.

The crew was preparing to release Achim’s catch back into the water when it attacked him, he said.

“I was like a metre away from the fish. I was just admiring my catch ... the fish just lunged at me. It got my leg.

“He managed to bite into my calf, and the bone, and ripped a part of the calf and he took it with him. I started bleeding instantly.”

The 27-year-old said that he attempted to stem the flow of blood using a rope.

He said a significant amount of blood gathered on the boat’s deck, something backed up by videos claiming to be from the aftermath of the incident, showing large amounts of blood.

Blue sharks are regular visitors to Ireland, especially when seas are warmer in summer and autumn.

Adult blue sharks can grow up to the size of around 3 metres, with some of the largest known specimens growing up to around 3.8 metres long.

They are generally not considered aggressive towards humans.

Speaking to RTÉ, Achim admitted that "the fish is in the right".

He told the outlet: “So, we managed to take out the hook easily.

“I stayed actually a safe distance. I was like at least half a meter away from his tail, and I was just admiring, you know, the fish itself.

“And it just jumped in a millisecond. He just jumped and just grabbed into my calf.

“I cannot say if it’s a deliberate attack, or it’s not a deliberate attack. Anyway, the fish is in the right.

“We took it out of the water. The fish was in his survival instinct. And we just threw him back in the water. We didn’t manage to tag him. We just didn’t want the fish to be more panicked than that, you know.”

A spokesperson for Ballycotton RNLI said: "Ballycotton RNLI was involved in a multi-agency rescue operation yesterday, Tuesday 11 August, following a report of a person suffering a shark bite while on board a pleasure craft off the Waterford coast.

"At 4.16pm, Ballycotton RNLI was requested to launch by Dublin Coast Guard to assist a 5-metre pleasure craft with five people on board, approximately four miles off Ram Head, Ardmore. The call formed part of a coordinated response involving Ballycotton RNLI, Youghal RNLI and Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 117.

"Ballycotton RNLI’s all-weather Trent-class lifeboat, The Austin Lidbury, was launched at 4.30pm. With calm sea conditions and good visibility, the lifeboat arrived on scene at approximately 5.10pm. Youghal RNLI and Rescue 117 were already at the casualty vessel.

"Both lifeboats remained on standby while the casualty was winched from the vessel by Rescue 117 and transferred for emergency evacuation to Cork University Hospital.

"The remaining members of the group did not require assistance, and the casualty vessel subsequently returned safely to Dungarvan. Both lifeboats were then stood down. Ballycotton RNLI returned to harbour at approximately 6.15pm, where the lifeboat was refuelled before the volunteer crew continued with their scheduled weekly training session."

These are particularly gory and feature a lot of blood, so viewer discretion is heavily advised for anyone going searching for the videos.