Home Australia Two of Australia’s bravest athletes make history with amputee cage fight in Cairns

Two of Australia’s bravest athletes make history with amputee cage fight in Cairns

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Fighters with prosthetic legs compete in Australia's first amputee cage fight
  • Two Australian amputees took part in caged Muay Thai fight
  • Both men have survived horrific near-fatal incidents.
  • New South Wales wrestler Buck Cooper was victorious that night.

Buck Cooper and Glenn Dickson lost limbs, but that didn’t stop them from competing in one of the world’s toughest sports over the weekend.

Both men, who have survived brutal incidents that have claimed their legs, took part in a Muay Thai cage fight on Saturday night at the Fred Moule Exhibition Center in Cairns.

Despite only having the use of one arm, Cooper was victorious that night.

Dickson, from Far North Queensland, died six times and was amputated after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing in 2017.

Fighters with prosthetic legs compete in Australia’s first amputee cage fight

Despite only being able to use one arm, Cooper was victorious afterwards.

Despite only being able to use one arm, Cooper was victorious afterwards.

“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.”

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.

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.

Dickson became an amputee after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing in 2017.

Dickson became an amputee after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing in 2017.

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.

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.

“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.

The road to recovery has been long, but Dickson is once again ready to compete in a sport he trained in before the brutal attack.

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.”

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