 Shark attack doctor stitches own leg LOUISE BERWICK AND LAUREN HAYES 
 
 NICOLE GOURLEY/Fairfax NZ BITE FRIGHT: Junior doctor James Grant inspects the wetsuit he was wearing when he was attacked by a shark on Saturday. He had just entered the water at Garden Bay near Cosy Nook in Southland on Saturday when the next thing he knew a shark was wrapping its jaws around his leg. And he's got the holes in his wet suit and his leg to prove it. James Grant fought off what's believed to be a sevengill shark, and stitched himself up before his mates took him to hospital. "All I went to do was stab it as many times as I could really, and eventually it let go," he says. "We gave him a pint of beer and his mates were kicking around, laughing," says Colac Bay Tavern co-owner Warren Bevin. His friends ventured ashore and with blood dripping down his leg, took Dr Grant to the nearby Colac Bay pub for a check-up. His colleagues at Southland Hospital later gave his leg a proper stitch-up, ensuring he'll have a tidy scar and a good fishy tale to tell. Seven-gill sharks grew up to 3 metres long, and New Zealand was one of a few countries where they attacked humans.
– When a New Zealand man felt something odd on his leg while spearfishing, he assumed it was one of his buddies. "I looked behind to see who it was and got a bit of a shock," James Grant, a 24-year-old doctor, tells Radio New Zealand. It was, apparently, a seven-gill shark—which can grow to almost 10 feet, an expert tells Stuff.co.nz. Though he couldn't see it, he guessed its jaw spanned about 8 inches. His next thought: "Bugger, now I have to try and get this thing off my leg." Grant stabbed at it using a knife already in his hand, the Guardian reports. "Put a few nicks in it," he says. After getting out of the water, he discovered bite marks about 2 inches long. Fortunately, he had a first aid kit handy, so he sewed himself up before heading to the pub. There, he got a beer—and a bandage so he didn't bleed all over the floor. He later got "proper" stitches from colleagues, 3 News reports. Yesterday, he was back at work. The biggest downside: "It would have been great if I had killed it because there was a fishing competition on" at the pub, Grant tells Stuff.