'It Spit Me Out': Man Saved By Off-Duty Sacramento Police Officer After Great White Attack Shares Story
SALINAS (CBS13) -- The swimmer who was attacked by a great white shark off the California coast is now sharing his story.
He's alive thanks in part to an off-duty Sacramento police officer and his wife.
Steve Bruemmer was swimming off the coast of Pacific Grove last month almost finished - just about 150 yards from the beach - when the shark went on the attack.
"Just wham! I don't even know exactly what happened," Bruemmer said. "Well, it turns out I was bit ferociously by a shark right across my thighs and abdomen."
Bruemmer says the shark grabbed him and pulled in down in the water.
"Then, of course, it spit me out," Bruemmer said.
Underwater, Bruemmer says the shark was looking right at him. Thinking that it would attack him again, he says he managed to push it away.
"I pushed it with my hand and I kicked at it with my foot, and it left," Bruemmer said.
Bruemmer says he started yelling for help and that off-duty Sacramento police officer Paul Bandy and his wife Amee Johns were paddleboarding nearby. The pair then jumped into action.
Johns told KSBW that Bruemmer was bleeding severely. He had also suffered a broken femur.
After being treated for the injuries, Breummer left a Salinas hospital earlier this week.
He is expected to make a full recovery.
