I was swallowed head first by a great white shark – I will never forget what it felt like as it tried to eat me alive
A DIVER has revealed the terrifying moment he was swallowed whole by a great white shark as it tried to eat him alive.
Eric Nerhus, from Eden, Australia, is one of very few who have been inside the jaws of the fearsome predator and survived to tell the tale.
Eric was scouring reefs for abalone - a type of edible sea snail - at Cape Howe on New South Wales' rugged southern coastline in January, 2007.
But as he was diving, a great white shark charged him - swallowing his head and torso whole.
The veteran waterman then found himself inside the belly of the 10ft beast.
More than 77 jagged teeth sunk into his body as its jaws clamped shut.
The monstrous creature then tried to swallow him, crushing his head and chest, which were only protected by his heavy diving gear.
Inside, it was pitch black as Eric looked down the back of its throat with his arm dangling in front.
As its teeth gnashed into his flesh and started to thrash him around, Eric was now in for the fight of his life - a horrific ordeal that he will never forget.
An incident report obtained by The Sun Online from the Global Shark Accident File can now reveal the horrific details that ensued.
Weather reports on the day forecasted rough conditions - fierce enough to deter most seasoned divers from taking the plunge.
In the weeks prior, there had also been some white pointer sightings in the area due to unusually cold waters.
However, it was a spot Eric had dived on 100 times before.
And that morning his 16-year-old son, Mark, was his trusted deckhand.
Eric said: "When you are a diver and you're in that domain you've got that inkling in the back of your mind wondering if a shark will show up.
"A bob of seals or big fish shoot past you... you think 'ok I wonder what's chasing them'
"That's when the hair on the back of your neck will stand up."
Abalone divers can spend up to eight hours below the surface using lead weight vests to control their buoyancy.
They are usually hooked up to a machine on the boat that feeds them oxygen through a hose that's connected to an industry-grade mask.
Despite that day's murky water, Eric was in his element, casually making his way around submerged boulders.
He was in the tranquillity of the deep blue Tasman Sea and the only thing he could hear was the hum of his air regulator.
He took a reassuring upwards glance at the hull of his boat and continued on with the task at hand.
Next minute, everything went black.
Eric came to the vice-like pressure of his torso being crushed between two trucks colliding .
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