‘Like a dog on a bone’: Broome shark attack victim Brett Highlands reveals how he fought off 3m predator

For a split second, Brett Highlands thought he was going to die when a 3m shark latched onto his arm while he was spearfishing north of Broome. Mr Highlands said the predator “bit again”, saying it was “almost like a dog trying to get a good grip of a bone”. “It was the chomping effect that I really felt,” he revealed, adding it was “just a wild animal attached to my arm”. But then instinct kicked in — and he fought back. “I just rammed the spear into what I could see was the belly of the shark,” he said. “It released straight away and shot off.” The terrifying ordeal played out on Friday, 50km from Broome, while the 48-year-old father was celebrating his birthday with a spearfishing trip. After he managed to swim backstroke using just one arm to the boat, his mates fashioned a tourniquet from a diving belt and got him back to shore. The deep bite marks led to him being flown to Perth for surgery on on his arm and doctors expect he will make a full recovery. Fisheries have taken samples of Mr Highland’s wetsuit to confirm whether it was a tiger shark that attacked him. Regardless of the findings, Mr Highland said he will get back in the water — albeit after he invests in a shark shield. “We all know the dangers when we get in the water, it’s their territory,” he said. “But we choose to do it.” It was the third shark attack in the region in six months.