Rescuer from Del Mar reports how he pulled swimmer out after shark bite

Kevin Barrett said he knew someone was in trouble when he heard someone screaming in the water off Del Mar.

“I believe that courage is something we all have within us, we are just not tested,” Barrett said. “I did what anyone would have done.”

By his actions, Barrett likely helped save a man’s life after he was bitten by a shark.

The rare shark attack was reported around 9 a.m. Sunday just outside the main lifeguard tower near 17th Street, officials said.

Barrett said he and fellow rescuers Cameron Whiting and Jenna Veal are all part of the North County Ocean Swimmers team, which regularly trains on the Del Mar shoreline. Among the 18 other club members there that morning was the shark bite victim.

Barrett had just returned from swimming when he heard the screams. He ran back in the direction the sound came from and found the bleeding victim in the water.

The man suffered injuries to his torso, arm and hand, Barrett said.

“I could see there was no pulsing (blood) except in his hand because he had obviously hit the shark and a tooth had penetrated deep into his muscle.”

Barrett, tired from getting to the swimmer so quickly, rolled the man over onto his back. He then lay down on his back to catch his breath. He knew he had to act quickly because the shark or other sharks could be attracted to the blood in the water.

Whiting and a surfer in the water came to Barrett’s aid. Veal, the man’s swimming buddy, had stayed in the water by his side and told the other rescuers what had happened.

The surfer offered the board to the swimmers to bring himself and the injured man back to shore.

“I was able to say, ‘Cam, I’m out of air. You need to get on the back of the surfboard. I’ll swim beside you, but I need your strength,'” Barrett recalled.

When the two were able to stand again, each of them took an arm and carried the victim up the beach to an ambulance.

According to Barrett, they quickly began assessing the wounds until they were able to get the victim into an ambulance. The swimmer’s clubmate said that despite his serious injuries, the victim remained calm throughout the ordeal, even telling his rescuers where his phone was and to call his wife.

The injured swimmer remained in the hospital until Monday.

Officials later said they believe the perpetrator was a juvenile great white shark, although tests are currently being conducted to confirm this. Given the murky waters, the shark may have accidentally bitten the man while feeding on fish, said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach, which studies the movements and behavior of sharks in Southern California.

Barrett said he did not mean to stop people from enjoying the ocean with the attack, stressing that the swimmers were in the shark’s habitat but likely made a mistake due to its age.

“(The sharks) all knew we were there, but there was no further shark activity.”