FORMER Westville Boys’ High School pupil escaped death when a great white shark attacked him while he was surfing at Muizenberg near Cape Town on Friday.
Matthew Smithers was attacked from behind, the shark tossing him 3 metres into the air.
“Judging from the size of the teeth marks on the surfing board the shark that attacked him was a 4,4 metre great white shark,” said his mom, Julie Smithers.
Julie, who is a Westville resident, said she received a call from Matthew’s dad at 2.30pm as she was driving home.
“We rushed to Cape Town to see how he was doing as he sounded so calm over the phone.
“Fortunately he won’t be losing his limbs. Matthew has spent most of his life in the sea, he grew up fishing and he has caught plenty of sharks that size with his father, Jono,” said Julie.
Matthew will remain in hospital for a few more days.
