AN ANGLER has undergone extensive reconstructive surgery

after being bitten by a shark off the coast of North Devon.

Stephen Perkins, 52, is believed to be the first person in

Britain to have been attacked by a blue shark. He was pleasure

fishing 15 miles west of Lundy Island on Saturday afternoon

when a shark he had hooked "got the better of him".

It plunged its teeth into his forearm, causing deep puncture

wounds. Mr Perkins was losing so much blood that a Sea King

helicopter from RAF Chivenor was called to rush him to hospital

in Barnstaple.

Mr Perkins, from South Glamorgan in Wales, said: "We don't

harm the sharks when we hook them. We just take a picture and

put them back in the water, but the one I got was pretty lively

and, having put his jaw around my wrist, then let go.

"The scariest bit, to be honest, was going up in a

helicopter. It won't put me off fishing again, but I will

remember to pick the shark up by the blunt end in future."

The fisherman was taken to North Devon district hospital by

the rescue helicopter, which was diverted from a training

exercise. Tim Thompson was one of the paramedic winchman that

arrived at the scene. He said they got to the boat 45 minutes

after the attack to find Mr Perkins's arm wrapped in a blood-

soaked towel. They did what they could out at sea and then flew

him to hospital, arriving 15 minutes later.

Mr Perkins and a friend had taken his angling vessel,

Serenity, from Swansea to the waters off the North Devon

coastline that morning. They could not believe their luck when

they hooked a blue shark and hauled it into the boat, hoping to

get a photograph to show off their catch. But it all went wrong

when Mr Perkins lost control of the creature, which bit his

wrist before it could be thrown back overboard.

He was transferred from the district hospital to the Royal

Devon and Exeter hospital on Sunday, where he underwent surgery

to repair the "crush and rip" damage to his forearm. He was

lucky to have sustained no bone or muscle injury, but he will

need physiotherapy to aid his recovery. He was discharged

yesterday.

Andrew Alsop, owner of White Water Charters in Milford Haven

is an experienced shark fisherman who runs trips off the Welsh

coast. "Blue sharks have got teeth on them like razor blades

and, when they latch on, they roll like a crocodile," he said.

"You can imagine the damage that can do to human flesh."

Richard Peirce, chairman of the Sharks Trust in Plymouth,

said felt sorry for Mr Perkins, but added: "When sharks are

having hooks removed from their mouths, they will naturally be

a bit distressed. You have to ask who attacked who first in

this case."