Col Rowland left in financial ruin after great white shark attack

Col Rowland survived a great white shark attack in 2016 but after years of rehabilitation and loss of work due to his injuries, he is on the brink of financial ruin. He reveals the devastation he has faced in the past three years as he relives the attack.

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Col Rowland literally escaped from inside the jaws of a 1500kg great white shark but living with his injuries has eaten away at him until he is on the brink of financial disaster.

Mr Rowland, 65, a former real estate agent, cheated death three times during the attack but suffered a broken shoulder, hip and knee injuries and spent six months in a wheelchair with a serious bite wound to his foot.

He is unable to work, ineligible for the pension and so behind in his house payments that the bank is about to foreclose.

Col Rowland has been battling to keep his seaside house in Forster ever since his horrific encounter with a great white shark in 2016. Picture: Peter Lorimer

“It has taken three years but it feels like it has got me,’’ Mr Rowland said from his beachfront home at Forster.

“I have exhausted all my finances. It is all gone.

“I have battled away but financially I am stuffed, and that is hurting my recovery because of the endless stress. It makes me cry.’’

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Fellow shark attack survivor and president of charity Beyond The Bite, Dave Pearson, said this was not an isolated case.

“We call it our new normal. Straight after the attack you feel an incredible sense of still being alive but a few months down the track and you struggle,’’ Mr Pearson said.

“For surfers like Col and I, it has been your life but sometimes you are out in the water and feel you just don’t want to be there.

“His physical scars may be relatively small but it is the mental scars that are the hardest.

“And, if you have other things happening in your life, then the scars you carry can exacerbate your problems and make them much worse.’’

Col Rowland arriving at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital after the shark attack. Picture: Peter Lorimer

At first glance it is an extraordinary tale of survival. Most shark attacks recorded along the east coast involve juvenile great whites less than 3m long.

But the predator that targeted Mr Rowland was a mature animal, estimated by teeth marks in Mr Rowland’s board as being longer than 5m, making it well over 1500kg in weight.

He was at the mid-north coast break of Bulls Paddock, south of Forster in December 2016 when a pod of dolphins came up from underneath him.

“It has happened before and they have become tangled in my leg rope, so I knelt on my board with my legs and arms completely out of the water,’’ he said.

Rowland still has his ruined surfboard and wetsuit. Picture: Peter Lorimer

And that is when the shark struck from directly below, with witnesses later claiming Mr Rowland was catapulted about 4m into the air.

“It hit with such force that my surfboard exploded and pushed me out of its mouth,’’ he said.

“That is the first time I cheated death.’’

Mr Rowland found himself in the water next to the shark “and when I looked down all I could see was black, it was bigger than my bus’’.

Rowland fears he will lose his house after the shark attack led to his financial ruin. Picture: Peter Lorimer

The shark caught Mr Rowland’s leg-rope and dragged the injured man under, crashing him into the sand, breaking his shoulder and badly damaging his hips and knees.

“I reckon I found the strength of 20 men to someone get near the surface so I could take a breath before it dragged me back under,’’ he said.

“I knew I had to get myself untangled.’’

He did, cheating death for the second time. But the shark wasn’t finished and came back.

Mr Rowland could see his leg was bleeding from a bite to his ankle and feared the worst — only for the shark to veer away.

“I reckon that saved me. It was almost as if it tasted my blood and didn’t want me,’’ he said.

“Cheated death for the third time.’’

He still enjoys surfing even after his horrific attack. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Mr Rowland was stabilised on the beach and flown to hospital, where he underwent 12 hours of surgery.

And then the slow rehabilitation began.

The attack occurred shortly after he separated with his wife of 30-plus years. Unable to work and to help his recovery, Mr Rowland took out an overdraft with the equity from his house.

But the continued problems with his health financially ruined him. He has packed his remaining belongings and is waiting for the final knock on the door from the bank.

“I can’t believe it has come to this. I worked seven days a week for 20 years and now have nothing to show for it,’’ Mr Rowland said.

“It is devastating.’’

Originally published as Col Rowland left in financial ruin after great white shark attack