Boy Aged 11 'Lucky To Be Alive' After Shark 'Brushed Past His Leg' Off Brit Beach

Aug 10, 2021

Shark attacks are something we have all come to fear, with films like "Jaws" portraying the marine animals as bloodthirsty beasts. While this may not be the exact truth, sharks are still dangerous and should always be avoided. One boy who was swimming in the Bournemouth sea in early August 2021 is "lucky to be alive," according to his father, after a close encounter with a shark. 

Alan Hayward, 48, was with his two children, 11-year-old Henry and 8-year-old Mollie, as they were swimming at Boscombe Beach. After playing in the water for a bit, Henry said he could feel something brushing against his leg. His father laughed it off but told the kids to get back to shore anyway. It wasn't until later, when looking at photos, that they recognized a shark fin near Henry.

There are many sharks native to the UK that could have been the culprit. Fortunately, nobody got close enough to really interact with the shark, but this also means we can't tell for sure what type of shark it was. It is possible that it was something harmless like a Bull Huss or Basking Shark, which are native to the British coast but usually not dangerous to humans.

Later in the afternoon on the same day, an eyewitness reported that they saw a shark in the water. Upon learning about the sighting, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) made an announcement telling everyone to get out of the water due to marine wildlife in the area. The beach was then closed for half an hour. It has been said that the RNLI's response was immediate and very effective. 

A spokesperson for the RNLI said to the Sun: "On Wednesday 4 August, RNLI lifeguards received reports of a large marine animal in the sea near Boscombe Beach, Dorset. As a precautionary measure, lifeguards asked beach visitors to evacuate the water and put up red flags. Lifeguards used their Rescue Watercraft to scan the area and visitors were able to go back into the water half an hour later."

Henry was immediately worried when he felt something move against him in the water. However, his father did not think it was anything serious at first. "We laughed at him just thinking it was a bit of seaweed and it wasn't until we got home that we were looking through our photos and we saw that shark, or what looks like a shark in the background. I just thought what's that, and then when we zoomed in we could see the dorsal fin. He was extremely lucky, to be honest, I think he's lucky to be alive," Hayward said.

Darron Tapper, 54, from Bournemouth, told the Sun he believes he also had a lucky escape. He said: "I was pulling a lure back into shore and something grabbed that, I almost turned over in my kayak. I spun around and saw a big shadow. I know what fish are, it was something big."

He continued, "As a fisherman, I've never heard of a shark in these waters so that was the last thing on my mind. It is very possible (it was a shark) I'm speculating that I don't know what else would have the power. If you saw how it took my rod and reel I didn't stand a chance."

Are you afraid of sharks? Would you ever swim where sharks have been sighted? Let us know and pass this along to your loved ones.