Many good samaritans rushed to Steve Bruemmer’s aid in Pacific Grove. Photo: Screenshot
When 62-year-old Steve Bruemmer went swimming in the ocean waters near Pacific Grove, Calif. this week, the triathlete who often trained in the ocean obviously never expected anything out of the ordinary to happen. But that’s exactly what occurred when he was attacked by a shark that severely injured his leg, arms and stomach. Bruemmer survived the attack with the help of nearby surfers and paddleboarders that helped him in. Experts are now releasing information on the shark based on Bruemmer’s bites – that surgeons spent hours working on – and they think the apex predator was at least 20-feet long.
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Bruemmer was apparently told by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife that the great white shark was giant, and most likely female, since that sex is usually the bigger of the species. The CDFW’s forensic scientists used the bite mark to estimate the size. All of Bruemmer’s injuries were reportedly caused by a single exploratory bite that didn’t hit any organs and he was lucky the fish was just investigating and didn’t fully attack the swimmer.
Bruemmer was rescued by surf instructor Heath Braddock and a two people on SUPs, Paul Bandy and Amy Johns. “He was 300 feet out. A lot of tourists cry wolf and cry out ‘shark!’ It’s rarely the case. It’s usually a dolphin. But this guy continued to scream frantically. I saw the pool of blood around him so I knew it was real,” Braddock told local media.
“The shark bite was unlucky,” Bruemmer said in a statement. “But after that, I have just had so much good luck. And the day was so calm and warm, and the beach was crowded. There were no waves, and there was no chop. So people could hear me yelling ‘Help’ from a great distance, including from the Rec Trail, where someone called 911.”
