A DAD claims his son is “lucky to be alive” after a “shark” in Bournemouth “brushed past his leg” in a terrifying sea encounter. Alan Hayward, 48, was watching his kids, Henry, 11, and Mollie, 8, playing in the sea when they started running towards him, jokingly shouting “run for your life.” Son Henry claimed to […]
A DAD claims his son is “lucky to be alive” after a “shark” in Bournemouth “brushed past his leg” in a terrifying sea encounter.
Alan Hayward, 48, was watching his kids, Henry, 11, and Mollie, 8, playing in the sea when they started running towards him, jokingly shouting “run for your life.”
Son Henry claimed to have felt something big brush against him while they were playing in the water – and Alan has since realised his family snap shows a ‘fin’ lurking in the sea.
It is yet another sighting of the apparent ‘shark’ which sparked terror at Boscombe Beach in Dorset this week.
In scenes straight out of the movie Jaws, swimmers were told to flee the water following a possible sighting on Wednesday.
Earlier, a fisherman told how he grappled with a “monster shark” off the coast in a separate incident. He claims the animal was “bigger than anything he’s seen in 13 years”.
Now, Alan claims his family spotted the creature lurking in the sea on Tuesday – suggesting the beast may be roaming off the Dorset coast.
The family from Oakton, Kent, had travelled to Boscombe for a day-trip as part of their week away.
Alan told The Sun: “We decided to take the kids down to the beach for the day, and it wasn’t until later on that we saw online the beach was closed and then we looked through our photos and saw that, and saw the fin going through the water.
“He was in the water and he came running out with his sister, and she was shouting “let’s run for our lives” but just as a joke, and he said something had brushed past him.
“We laughed at him just thinking it was a bit of seaweed and it wasn’t until we got home that we were looking through our photos and we saw that shark, or what looks like a shark in the background.
“I just thought what’s that, and then when we zoomed in we could see the dorsal fin.
“He was extremely lucky to be honest, I think he’s lucky to be alive.
“He could have got a nip on the ankle, or a nip on the calf, or even worse it could have been even worse.
“She said jokingly to him “lets run for our lives” and it was just super lucky.
“At least we can laugh about it now, it’s terrifying and I mean he’s braver than me, I don’t know what I would have done.”
He added: “He wouldn’t have known the kind of shark it was, he could have lost his leg, or even worse he could have been killed.
“He’s a bit excited about it now, people pay thousands of pounds to go on holiday to swim with sharks and we go to do it for free on Bournemouth beach.”
We laughed at him just thinking it was a bit of seaweed and it wasn’t until we got home that we were looking through our photos and we saw that shark, or what looks like a shark in the background.
Alan Hayward
On Wednesday afternoon RNLI lifeguards put up red flags, the signal to warn swimmers of a serious hazard in the water.
And just like Chief Brody in the cult film Jaws, they also put out a tannoy announcement telling people to get out of the sea due to “large marine wildlife” in the water.
The beach, that was busy with families enjoying their summer holidays, remained closed for almost an hour while lifeguards searched the sea on jet-skis.
It is believed that it will be the first of dozens of shark sightings across the south coast this summer, as they head to Britain due to climate change, experts have warned.
Witness Gemma Harris said: “The lifeguard put out a loudspeaker announcement saying ‘everyone out of the water, there is marine wildlife in the water..
“Everybody rushed out of the water and the RNLI response was very effective.
“They checked the water for about half-an-hour before letting bathers back in. Apparently a fin was spotted. We heard one of the RNLI team say it was a shark but nothing has been confirmed.”
A spokesman for the RNLI said: “There were sightings of large marine life at Boscombe beach.
“The situation is being closely monitored by RNLI lifeguards who are asking visitors to stay away from the water and have put up red flags.”
