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Man recovering after shark attack

Source: One News

Professional diver Greg Pickering was bitten on the leg by a shark after trying to help a friend who was being attacked by the 1.5 metre bronze whaler.

The pair were spearfishing off the coast of Cervantes, about 250km north of Perth, on the weekend when the shark appeared.

Pickering decided to put himself between his friend and the shark when it began attacking.

"It kept crashing into him and coming at him with its mouth open," he told the Ten Network.

"We had no choice but to shoot it.

"The shark just turned on me and charged at me and it latched onto my leg and it bit twice.

"It wasn't excruciating pain, I was surprised.

"I could see there was a big chunk of skin hanging off and the wetsuit was sort of holding it together."

Pickering, 47, who has been an abalone diver for almost 34 years said he had been on the receiving end of many close calls with sharks but had never been bitten before.

"If sharks are hungry they can snap," he said.

"All can be calm and then they just explode into action."

Pickering was recovering in hospital today after being driven to the Jurien nursing post, 25km away from Cervantes, by retiree Alan Ogden.

"He told me the shark came up and bit him once on the shin and then came back and had another go," Ogden said.

"He looked pretty pale, as you'd expect, but apart from that he was pretty calm about it really."

Ogden, a Cervantes local, said he had been at the town's main beach Sunday afternoon when a boat carrying the man and three mates came speeding into shore.

"Somebody said: 'Is there a medical centre around here?' and that's when I realised someone had been hurt," he said.

The man was carried from the boat to Ogden's car with a towel wrapped around the lower leg of his wetsuit. Blood was seeping through the towel.

"The towel was soaked through and there was a bit of blood on the carpet of my car," Ogden said.

"The bloke was alright though - he was more worried about losing his mate's speargun to be honest.

"I said 'is it hurting bad?' and he said 'No, it's not as bad as I expected'."

Pickering was treated at the Jurien nursing post before being transferred to Perth's Joondalup Health Campus.

A campus spokesman said he was in a stable condition and was expected to be released from hospital tomorrow.

"He had treatment to the leg last night and he's resting comfortably, but we wouldn't expect him to go home until Tuesday," she said.