Shark Week is back! And John Cena (cue WWE music) has been guiding viewers through the ins and outs of some of the most captivating predators on the planet. But someone who is far more of a badass than John (sorry, John) is a man named Paul de Gelder, who had an arm and a leg chewed off by a bull-shark in the ocean. Does that mean he’s given up swimming?
Hardly.
The most obvious question is: are you afraid of the ocean? And if not, how long did it take you to revisit the ocean after your attack?
I’ve never been afraid to get in the ocean or give anything scary a go, to be honest, and I’m not going to start now. I was back in the water at bondi beach trying to surf with one leg the same day my stitches and staples came out of my injuries and the doctor gave me the green light. Now I do shows where I parachute into the middle of the ocean for 2 days and nights without food or water, surrounded by sharks.
After such a horrific experience, where did you find the motivation to continue? And what would you tell someone who’s been through something similar?
I’m really just a simple person and I tend to see things simply without over-complicating them. I remember thinking, ‘Ok, I’m pretty badly injured but I’m not dead and I might have quite a long life in front of me. So, I guess I’d better figure out what I’m going to do with it. I’d already lived quite an adventurous life, and I didn’t know how to do anything else. I knew I would never be happy in an office. So, I just looked at my options, decided on the path I wanted to take and then worked every day until I achieved it. You have to be willing to work hard beyond what you ever thought sometimes. Figure out your goal and purpose and then just throw everything you’ve got into it. If you’re not willing to do that, then you never really wanted it.
People are so extremely fascinated by sharks, Shark Week being evidence of that. What is it about these creatures that is so captivating?
I think the fact that most people will never actually see a large dangerous shark is a huge draw card. They’re almost mythological in their elusiveness but on Shark Week you can, not just see them, but witness other humans interacting with them. It almost seems unreal when you compare what you’re seeing to what the mainstream media would have you believe. They are one of the only apex predators on earth that will allow you to share their environment if you treat them with respect.
You manage to do things like bench press and heavy exercises in the gym. How long was the adjustment period after your recovery, and how do you feel now in the gym?
I had to re-learn how to use my entire body during my recovery period and then create tools to help me achieve my fitness goals. I was always on the internet looking at videos of Para-Olympic athletes or googling little devices to help me hold weights before I had a workout prosthetic. Fortunately, I was given as much time as I needed to recover so I trained as much as my body would allow and got back to full-time work at the Navy Dive School after only 6 months. I still have to be careful about what I do today due to imbalances and my uninjured leg taking over most of the weight and control. No more squats or deadlifts or I end up at the chiropractor. But I still love lifting and feel blessed to live in LA, train at Golds Gym, and get to say hello to big Arnold Schwarzenegger most mornings. And whenever Discovery Channel calls, I know I’m about to go on another big adventure for Shark Week. Life’s pretty darn great.
As the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Is that true in your case?
It definitely made me stronger in some ways. My biggest fears in life were sharks and public speaking and now I host Shark Week and travel the world as an inspirational speaker. Just don’t ask me to run up any stairs on my prosthetic leg though. Weaker in some ways and stronger in others.
Viewers can watch Shark Week content on Discovery Channel on OSNtv channel no. 50, BeIN channel no. 201, Jawwy TV channel no. 205 and stream it on discovery+ via STC TV/JawwyTV. There will also be a dedicated pop-up channel on OSNtv, ‘Discovery Shark Week’.
