Posted on Sun, Jun. 02, 2002
Surfer bitten by shark near San Francisco
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

STINSON BEACH, Calif. - A man who was critically injured in a shark attack was helped ashore by fellow surfers after he managed to fight off the animal by hitting it in the nose.

Lee Fontan, 24, was pulled from his surfboard Friday by a shark that witnesses said was about 15 feet long. His injuries weren't considered life-threatening.

"I looked over and this guy was about 3 or 4 feet out of the water in the shark's mouth," 33-year-old surfer John Gilbert told the San Francisco Chronicle. "You could see its teeth, its gums. Its eyes were shut. Its gills were wide open, like shutters. The whole dorsal fin on its back was out of the water."

After Fontan fought off the shark, which was thought to be a great white, he got back on his board and was aided by 10 to 15 surfers.

The attack happened about 300 feet from the shore, according to Kenny Stevens of the Stinson Beach Fire Department.

Fontan had a cut on his left leg deep enough to expose muscle and bone, and additional bites on his back and left arm, according to Stevens. He was airlifted to a hospital and was in critical condition, though a hospital spokeswoman said his injuries were not threatening to life or limb.

Fontan's father, Paul Fontan, told KGO-TV that his son was lucky to survive.

"If he hadn't gotten away," he said, "an animal that big could have easily taken him away."

The attack prompted National Park Service authorities to bar anyone from entering the waters at Stinson Beach, about 20 miles northwest of San Francisco, for five days.