No Time
For Fear

I grew up loving the sea – but was always scared of sharks. Always. Being in the sea is, to me, the closest anyone can get to being part of nature. Being in the sea in the vicinity of sharks is an ominous reminder of how brutal and unforgiving that nature can really be.’ – Paul de Gelder

Navy diver Paul de Gelder was attacked by a bull shark in the early hours of February 11 2009, while on a training exercise in Sydney’s Harbour, losing a hand and part of one leg, and being brought back from the dead during a daring rescue.

But the terrifying confrontation couldn’t take his spirit. After nine weeks in hospital, opting to have the rest of his leg amputated and putting himself on a gruelling rehab schedule, Paul was back in the water within months.

His life up to the attack had already been a pretty wild ride, escaping suburban Canberra for a drug-and-alcohol fuelled stint working in Brisbane strip clubs and performing as a rap artist, then an unlikely career move: joining the Army.

Paul drew on all the lessons of his past to reclaim his future; his determination to get his life back garnered by the disciplines of ten years in the defence forces, in constant exercises going “out bush”, on Army operations, on the tough diver selection test and demanding workloads. He coped incredibly well with the loss of his limbs but had to deal with the pain of rehab, and the ongoing frustrations of phantom pain.

Paul refused to take no for an answer at every stage of his rehab.

In the defence forces, he’d been inspired by the US Marines unofficial mantra: improvise, adapt and overcome. He didn’t know how important that mantra would become in his survival and believes that if other people can draw strength from his life, then it’s worth talking about.

Paul was also the subject of an Australian Story www.abc.net.au/austory/

No Time For Fear: How a shark attack survivor beat the odds by Sue Williams and Paul de Gelder was published by Penguin in May 2011, in print book, e-book and audio book. It is also available in the US.