\u201cThere was absolutely no warning or anything,\u201d Sloane said. \u201c[It] came from underneath and forcefully bit me on the ankle.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom memory, it was almost like an adjustment bite where it bit again, but like a half bite. When I came up, my flipper was probably 7 or 8m away, too far to have floated. So I think it took off with my flipper in its mouth and let go.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe craziest bit was swimming to the ski because I just felt like it was going to bite me again. That was probably the worst of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took off my neoprene sock, it had all these holes in it and all this blood started coming out. I just got hit by shock and literally started crying. I couldn\u2019t stop crying for like two minutes. I was a complete mess.\u201d<\/p>\n
En route to the hospital, he was speaking to his wife but can\u2019t remember what he said, describing it all as a blur.<\/p>\n
The extent of the injuries was worse than initially thought, with the bite damaging seven tendons in his leg.<\/p>\n
Sloane, who has been photographing surfing events for 15 years, now faces a lengthy recovery that will include at least three months without walking and his cast will need to be changed several times.<\/p>\n
The incident was not captured on the broadcast<\/a>, but footage from a Raglan surf cam showed Sloane thrashing in the water as a jet ski rushed to his aid before he was helped from the ocean, visibly limping.<\/p>\n Despite the severity of the injuries, nobody has been able to determine what attacked him and that will likely remain a mystery.<\/p>\n WSL vice-president of tours and competition Renato Hickel said it was the first known time a sea creature had attacked a photographer.<\/p>\n Sloane said he had since received support from members of the surfing community, with one of the first people to reach out being surfing legend Mick Fanning<\/a>, who famously survived a shark encounter during the 2015 J-Bay Open in South Africa.<\/p>\n While waiting for a wave, the shark grabbed Fanning\u2019s leg rope, thrashed around and circled him. Fanning instinctively punched the shark and fought it off until water safety jet skis rescued him. He escaped unharmed. <\/p>\n \u201cMick was really quick to message me actually,\u201d Sloane said. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you had to narrow down the number of people in the world that have been tapped by a shark in a surf event, he\u2019s like the only one on the list. So it was kind of nice to hear from him. <\/p>\n \u201cThe WSL have organised me some counselling and Mick actually said make sure to take up the counselling support, that\u2019s important.\u201d <\/p>\n Sloane said the WSL had been supportive throughout the ordeal. <\/p>\n He said the incident would not stop him from getting back in the water and he could not wait to return to Raglan with his family. <\/p>\n \u201cI fell in love with the place,\u201d Sloane said. \u201cOur next holiday\u2019s going to be in Raglan. This hasn\u2019t really dented that. I think this can happen anywhere. It\u2019s super unfortunate and the chances are just so ridiculously low. We\u2019ll be back here 100% when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n Carissa Moore<\/a> and Italo Ferreira<\/a> were crowned the winners of the event in Raglan.<\/p>\n It was the first WSL Championship Tour event held in New Zealand since the women\u2019s tour visited Taranaki between 2010 and 2013, and the first men\u2019s CT stop in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n