"The shark swallowed his head."
It's a frightening statement that matches a frightening incident for one man who was diving in Australia Tuesday.
Forty-one year-old Eric Nerhus was in the waters off Cape Howe, about 420 miles from Sydney, when he was attacked by what's believed to a great white shark (similar to the one pictured at left).
The 10-foot monster bit down on the stunned swimmer's head, crushing his face mask and breaking his nose.
It then clenched its powerful jaws around the man's torso, leaving him with deep lacerations to his side.
The beast was about to take another bite when Nerhus somehow wriggled free and lashed back at his attacker. He poked the shark in the eye, causing it enough distress that it finally swam off.
Fellow diver Dennis Loubikis was in the water at the time and watched it happen. "He was actually bitten by the head down - the shark swallowed his head," he recalls.
The victim was pulled from the water by his 25-year-old son and rushed to hospital, suffering from serious injuries to his neck, body and left arm. But he survived the ordeal.
"Eric is a tough boy," observes Loubikis. "He's super fit. But I would say that would test anyone's resolve, being a fish lunch."
The movie Jaws has forever cemented shark attacks on humans as one of the most feared incidents in the water. Australia gets around 15 of them a year, but scientists say only about one percent are fatal.
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