Far north Queensland kickboxer Glenn Dickson has been killed six times and amputated after a savage shark attack, but even that can’t stop him from making Australian sporting history in a cage fight next month.
Dickson will face fellow amputee Buck Cooper on June 1 in Cairns, the first time in Australian history that two amputee fighters will enter the cage together, after fighting for survival just a few years ago.
In February 2017, Dickson and three companions went spearfishing on Hinchinbrook Island, east of Cardwell and north of Townsville in far north Queensland.
It was unknown territory for fishermen and the water was murky and murky that day. What happened next changed Dickson’s life forever.
It’s been a long road back for Cairns wrestler Glenn Dickson (pictured), who had his leg amputated after a horrific shark attack.
“I jumped in the water, saw this fish and hit it with the spear, but it wasn’t what’s known as a ‘kill shot,’ it was a little further back,” Dickson said. news corporation.
‘So the fish was still flapping and I thought I had to get to the surface quickly.
‘So I started swimming and pulling the fish towards me with the rope attached to the harpoon.
“I grabbed the fish and pulled the knife out of my anklet and right when I hit the fish with the knife, that’s when I felt like I had just been hit by a bus.”
Glenn Dickson and his wife Jessie-lee are pictured recovering in hospital.
Glenn and Jessie-lee have adjusted to their new life after he became an amputee
Dickson’s fight with the fish had attracted a 3.5m bull shark, a bad-tempered breed considered more dangerous and aggressive than a great white shark.
With limited visibility and blood in the water, the predator simply attacked without prejudice, latching onto Dickson’s exposed leg.
“I felt like I was put in a washing machine and everything was going very slow at the same time,” Dickson said.
‘I realized I was being attacked by a shark and being thrown around like a rag doll.
‘The shark got loose because it had to regurgitate my leg because it couldn’t get through my bone.
‘I went into survival mode and started swimming again and started going to the rocks.
‘Unconsciously my body knew much more than I thought about everything around me.
“My body immediately started swimming towards the rock and at that moment I thought, ‘I’ve been hit really hard here.’
Dickson won’t let his amputation stop him from having a cage fight that will create a piece of Australian sporting history.
Dickson went into cardiac arrest and his heart failed six times before doctors were able to stabilize him.
Dickson is fighting fit and ready for the first amputee kick boxing fight in Australia in June.
Dickson had no idea how badly injured he was with the water now filled with his own blood and mud.
Then the shark returned for another attack.
“Just as I was checking it out, the shark came in and was right next to me, an arm’s length away,” Dickson said.
“We looked into each other’s eyes, he was looking at me trying to figure out what he had just attacked and I was looking at him thinking ‘I know what the fuck you are’ and I screamed.
“As I was screaming, it turned around and hit me with its tail, which I was grateful for because I thought it was just going to cut my head off.
“I started swimming again and headed towards the rock, I actually grabbed the rock and fell back on the same leg.
“It completely tore my calf off the same leg, but I managed to get on the rock and started climbing these rocks to get out of the water.”
Dickson was attacked several times by an aggressive bull shark that tore his calf muscle from the bone.
As he bled to death, Dickson tried to call for help, but could only whisper meekly. His friends said he sounded like a seagull, not a man screaming for help to save lives.
They dragged him back to the ship, but the worst was yet to come: Dickson went into cardiac arrest.
“That’s when I died for the first time, they told me I died a total of six times, four on the boat and two on the helicopter,” he said.
“But that’s the only one I have a real memory of, I was slowly getting really cold.”
The cold ran up his body from where the shark bites were and finally reached his chest, where Dickson was struggling to breathe.
“I remember my body just braced itself and I sat up straight, eyes rolling back in my head,” Dickson said.
‘The white light was very comforting and made me want to have a deep sleep.
“But that’s when my daughter came up to me and said, ‘Come home, dad.’
“That’s when my brain started working again and we struggled to get home and I knew I had to get home for my little girl.”
The road to recovery has been long, but Dickson is now ready and eager to return to his love of kickboxing. And his opponent won’t be easy.
Dickson’s opponent, Buck ‘Buck Wild The Terminator’ Cooper (pictured), was in a brutal motorcycle accident that left him begging the police to shoot him to ease his pain.
Cooper’s recovery has been equally inspiring and the two historic fighters share a mutual respect.
New South Wales wrestler Buck ‘Buck Wild The Terminator’ Cooper has an equally inspiring story of survival after a motorcycle accident that left him begging to be put out of his misery.
“I remember being paralyzed for a moment, then I looked down and my leg was completely torn off,” Cooper said.
‘I started screaming. His gut was hanging out, his pelvis was shattered, parts of me that should be inside me weren’t.
“My testicles were hanging down, although luckily I still have them.”
It will be a bittersweet occasion for both fighters, who share enormous mutual respect.
“It’s been tough because we (Buck and I) are in a lose-lose situation,” Dickson said.
‘Nobody wants to fight with us because nobody wants to hit the disabled or be hit by them.
“And I really wanted to do it again, so I approached Buck and asked him and he was willing to do it.
‘I have a lot of respect for him and what he went through.
“The man is a warrior, so it will be a very interesting fight.”