“I’ve never felt fear in my life like what I felt in the jaws of that white pointer”

A diver who was swallowed alive by a great white shark recalled the horrifying moment he was trapped inside the beast.

Being eaten alive is certainly one of the most horrifying experiences a person could endure. Imagine being stuck inside the jaws of a ferocious animal, conscious enough to know what’s happening to you but helpless to save yourself.

For most of us, this is an experience we’re unlikely to endure – however for diver Eric Nerhus this was an experience he would somehow survive to tell the tale.

Eric, from Eden – a coastal town in New South Wales – Australia, was out collecting shellfish on the coast when he encountered the 10ft beast in a surprise attack back in 2007.

He had been unable to see the shark approaching due to poor visibility in the water, and was taken by surprise when the beast clamped its razor sharp jaws around his head.

Despite being protected from the worst of the attack due to a lead-lined vest, Eric spent an agonising two minutes inside the animal’s mouth – with his body sliding down into the creature’s throat at one point.

Thinking fast though, Eric was able to use a chisel he was carrying to jab at the shark’s eye – causing it to loosen its jaws.

“Half my body was in its mouth. I felt down to the eye socket with my two fingers and poked them into the socket,” he told Nine Network news at the time.

He continued: “The shark reacted by opening its mouth and I just tried to wriggle out. It was still trying to bite me. It crushed my goggles into my nose and they fell into its mouth.