Cairns fighter opens up about being attacked by a shark

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare – being attacked by a shark. But these words saved the life of an Aussie dad.

Three simple words kept Glenn Dickson alive as he lay bleeding to death on the deck of a boat after a spearfishing incident went terribly wrong.

‘Come home Daddy’ were the words Dickson heard as he ‘saw the light’ while trying to stay alive.

They were the words his body needed to kick into its fight mode and survive the horrific shark attack.

Dickson said he will always remember that moment.

“I am not a religious person or anything but when I was laying there on that boat basically dying, that was what I saw,” Dickson said.

“This white light just blanketed over me and comforted me.

“Then my daughter Lyla, she came into my head and said to me ‘come home daddy’.

“That white light was so comforting and made me want to rest and was a much easier option at the time.

Amputee Glenn Dickson will compete in his first caged Muay Thai since losing his leg in a shark attack off Cardwell in 2017. Picture: Brendan Radke

“But as soon as I heard her say those words, my whole body just flipped like I was in the fifth and final round of a fight and I had to push through.”

In February 2017, 25-year-old Dickson and his three mates went spearfishing off Hinchinbrook Island, a fishing spot he was not used to.

In what was murky water and tough conditions, Dickson and his mates jumped into the water chasing fish.

Little did he know his whole life was about to change forever.

“I jumped in the water, saw this fish and hit it with the spear but it wasn’t what is known as a ‘kill shot’ instead it was just a bit further back from that,” Dickson said.

“So the fish was still flapping around and I was thinking I have to get to the surface quickly.

“So I started swimming up and pulling the fish towards me with the rope attached to the spear.

“I got the fish and grabbed my knife out of my anklet and just as I hit the fish with the knife, that was when I felt like I just got hit by a bus.”

The fish attracted a massive 3.5m bull shark and in murky unclear water, the shark just heard the noise and vibrations of a fish in distress and chose to attack what it saw.

“It felt like I had been chucked into a washing machine and everything was going so slow at the same time,” Dickson said.

“I realised I was getting attacked by a shark and getting thrown around like a ragdoll.

“The shark let go of my leg because it had to regurgitate my leg because it couldn’t get through my bone.

Amputee Glenn Dickson will compete in his first caged Muay Thai since losing his leg in a shark attack off Cardwell in 2017. Picture: Brendan Radke

“I went into survival mode and started swimming again and started going to the rocks.

“Subconsciously my body knew a lot more than I thought about with all the surroundings.

“My body immediately started swimming towards the rock and in that moment I was like ‘I have been hit really bad here’.

“I knew it was bad, I knew there was something wrong to my leg but at the same time I was thinking I had to get the f*** out the water because that shark is going to come and finish me off.”

Dickson was struggling to get to the rocks before he had to stop to check out how badly his leg was.

Blood was rushing out and filling the entire area of where he was and blocking his vision in the water, not knowing where the shark now was.

“Just as I was checking it out, the shark came in and was right up next to me, within about an arm’s distance away,” Dickson said.

“We caught eyes with each other, it was looking at me trying to suss out what it had just attacked and I was looking at it thinking ‘I know what the f*** you are’ and screamed.

“As I screamed, he spun around and whacked me with his tail, which I was thankful for because I thought he was just going to take my head off.

“I just started swimming again and headed for the rock, I actually got a hold of the rock and I got pulled back under again off the same leg.

“It took my calf completely off from the same leg but I managed to pull myself onto the rock and started climbing up these rocks to get out of the water.

I was trying to scream to alert my mates I was in trouble and there was a shark but it was like a night terror where you just can’t make any noise.

“My friends said they heard what sounded like a seagull not me screaming for help but then they realised it was me.”

Dickson’s good friend Rick was the one who heard him screaming, making faint noises for help and saw him laying on the rocks.

Rick turned the boat around and went towards the rocks, terrified of what they were about to see.

“When I could see Rick looking shocked as if he was freaking out, I knew then that I had alerted him and I just passed out,” Dickson said.

“I woke up being lowered back into the boat.

“I remember two of the boys I was with they went into shock mode, one was just freaking out and the other was throwing up and screaming.

Amputee Glenn Dickson will compete in his first caged Muay Thai since losing his leg in a shark attack off Cardwell in 2017. Picture: Brendan Radke

“Where Rick went into military mode and started controlling what to do.

“He ended up using dive belts to tourniquet my leg.”

While his friends tried to save his life, Dickson experienced his first heart attack as his body started to shut down.

“Rick put me onto my side because I asked him to because I was in so much pain and I later found out it was the heart attack happening,” Dickson said.

“I kept trying to talk to Rick and he kept saying to me ‘it’ll be okay, I will get you home’.

“That was when I died for the first time, they told me I died a total of six times, four in the boat and twice in the helicopter.

“But that was the only one I have a real recollection of, I was slowly getting really cold.”

The coldness rose up his body starting from where the shark bites were and eventually made it to his chest where Dickson struggled to breathe.

“I remember my body just sort of fitted out and I just straightened out flat, eyes rolled to the back of my head,” Dickson said.

“The white light was so comforting and made me want to have this deep sleep.

“But that was when my daughter came over and said to me ‘come home dad’.

“That was when my brain kicked back in and we fought to get home and I knew I had to get home for my little girl.

“I got sucked back into my own body and just went into the survival mode and then the next five hours until I got to surgery, I just held on.”

Dickson was flown to Cairns Base Hospital where he was operated on by 11 doctors for more than five hours with his left leg being amputated.

He slipped in and out of comas over the next five days and went back under the knife a further three more times.

Remarkably, after five weeks of being in hospital, Dickson was discharged and then prepared for the long rehab.

“Having that Muay Thai and fighters background, I always believed that if you can train your weakest link you can become stronger,” Dickson said.

“And when the nurses said to me I have to get up out of that seat.

“I did it first go and shocked them, they said they couldn’t believe that I had just done that.”

Before the accident, the now 32-year-old Dickson had fought Muay Thai, training out of DF Gym before starting up his own gym in Mission Beach, naming it Survivor Gym.

On June 1, he will step back into the fighters arena, this time in a cage match with 4oz gloves against fellow amputee fighter Buck Cooper in an Australian first at Elite Fight Series.

It is the first time in Australian history two amputee fighters will step into the cage together.

“It has been tough because we (Buck and I) are in a lose, lose situation,” Dickson said.

“No one wants to fight us because no one wants to beat up the handicapped guy or get beat up by them.

“And I really wanted to get back into it so I reached out to Buck and asked him and he was keen to.

“I have a lot of respect for him and what he went through.

“The man is a warrior, so it will make for a very interesting fight.”

Originally published as Cairns fighter opens up about being attacked by a shark