A bull shark bolted from the deep toward the surface and slammed into a triathlete’s legs during an early morning workout. 

“It hit me about thigh-high. Came up from the bottom. I didn’t even see it,” Chuck Anderson told Fox News Digital about the 2000 attack. “It knocked me up out of the water a bit, and I started treading water. I hollered for Karen (his training partner) to go to the beach.”

Anderson said he put his face underwater to see what hit him. “When I did, I saw the shark coming from the bottom at me again.”

“I threw my hands towards him, and he snapped and took all four fingers off my right hand,” Anderson said. ” I held my right hand up in the air, tried to back paddle towards the beach with my left hand … I saw all the blood around me, and I thought, ‘Oh goodness. This is not gonna be good.”

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As Anderson attempted his escape, he kept searching underwater for the shark. 

At this point, he said he was swimming in about 12-to-15-foot deep waters and was about 150 yards from the beach in the Gulf Shores off Alabama.

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The bull shark attacked again, Anderson said. This time it rammed him in the stomach. 

That was round three of a four-round bout. The shark circled Anderson and was poised for the kill shot. 

A bull shark comes close to inspect tourist and their cameras during an eco tourism shark dive off of Jupiter, Florida on May 5, 2022. (Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Chuck Anderson remembers laughing after the attack. When asked how he’s laughing, Anderson said, “I said I got attacked four separate times by shark, and I’m standing here on the beach talking to you.” (Chuck Anderson)

“This time, I actually saw the fin coming directly towards me in the water, and I started trying to make a plan,” said Anderson, who prepared to battle the shark if it got too close. 

But his plan backfired. 

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“I thought I pushed him off, but my arm went into the shark’s mouth, and he took me to the bottom,” Anderson said, “He swung me around. My shoulder and hip were all chafed and scarred. 

“When I was on the bottom, that’s when the good Lord and I had a conversation, and I asked him to get me back up to the surface, at least give me a chance to see my kids one more time.”

Chuck Anderson prayed when he was underwater in the shark’s mouth to see his kids one more time. Now he’s alive and surrounded by his family. (Chuck Anderson)

Female bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, portrait near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico at the Caribbean Sea. (Luis Javier Sandoval/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Call it luck. Call it divine intervention, but the shark pulled him to the surface. 

“I have no explanation for it, but the shark went to the surface with my right hand in his mouth,” Anderson said.

“My left hand was on his nose, and he pushed me directly towards the beach. I was going so fast. People on the beach saw it and said it looked like I was on skis.”

BEACH SAFETY: TIPS THAT SAVE YOUR LIFE

Anderson said he ended up on the sandbar, about 10 yards off the beach, and “wiggled” away from the shark. 

He survived the four-round bout with a tenacious bull shark, a species known for its stout, powerful bodies and aggressive and territorial nature. 

“She said, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you don’t have an arm’ … and asked why I was laughing … I got attacked four separate times by a shark, and I’m standing here on the beach talking to you.”

— Chuck Anderson

Chuck Anderson continued to compete after his near-death confrontation with bull shark.  (Chuck Anderson)

Anderson remembers being harmless and laughing when he was finally reunited with Karen. 

“She said, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you don’t have an arm.’ And she looked at me and asked why I was laughing,” he said. “I said I got attacked four separate times by a shark, and I’m standing here on the beach talking to you. 

“I can’t believe I’m alive … I should be dead.” 

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Anderson was rushed to a nearby hospital. He said he lost about two thirds of the blood in his body. Doctors were able to save his elbow. 

He spent 13 days in intensive care, where he underwent several surgeries. 

BEACH SAFETY: TIPS THAT SAVE YOUR LIFE

Chuck Anderson was a triathlete in Alabama and training when he was attacked by a bull shark four times.   (Chuck Anderson)

Bull sharks are aggressive and territorial.  (Getty)

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With all the injuries and blood loss, Anderson said the “most dangerous” part of the attack was how long he spent underwater. He aspirated saltwater, which is common among scuba divers who inhale seawater mist that attacks the lungs. 

Chuck Anderson, a high school coach, nearly died during a shark attack, but it hasn’t stopped him from loving life and joking with everyone. (Chuck Anderson)

“When I got to the hospital, my fever went to 106, so they put me in an induced coma and kept me there for five days,” Anderson said. “They had to get that infection down. Once they brought me out of the coma, the recovery process could start.” 

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“I’m lucky”

Hearing Anderson say he’s “lucky” and thankful seems perplexing, given how this attack unfolded.

But he said if the shark bit his stomach instead of ramming him, he would have been lights out; if the shark dragged him farther away from shore instead of toward the beach, he wouldn’t have made it back to shore.

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“There were just so many positive things that happened that day that allowed me to survive that I’ve never really felt sorry for myself because I knew how lucky I was,” Anderson said. 

“I’ve never held any animosity towards the shark. It’s their territory, and you know, I just appreciate the fact that I’m still alive.”

He still loves the beach. He still loves the ocean. “And I want people to continue to enjoy it,” he said. 

Chuck Anderson lost his right arm after a bull shark attacked him four times at once.  (Chuck Anderson)

Shark attacks are so few and far between that “it shouldn’t keep people out of the ocean.”

“I respect sharks. I’m not happy I lost my right arm to one, and if I run into that guy again, I’ll probably have some choice words for him,” Anderson joked.

“But you know, they’re part of the ecosystem, and if we affect that ecosystem, the oceans that we love will be affected, and I don’t want that to happen. I want people to respect the territory of the sharks.”

A Florida woman was arrested after police said she left her toddler grandchild alone in a hot car while she went grocery shopping in Publix.

Elena Grady, 63, was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail for neglect of a child causing bodily harm after her 2-year-old grandchild was found unattended inside a hot car in the Publix parking lot on Tuesday.

Grady was released just after midnight on Wednesday after posting her $3,000 bond, jail records show.

CHILD HOT CAR DEATH PUSHES PARENTS WHO LOST DAUGHTER TO SOUND ALARM ABOUT ‘PREVENTABLE TRAGEDY’

Volusia County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Publix on Roscommon Drive at Ormond Beach at around 3 p.m. Tuesday after managers at the store noticed a child alone inside the parked car, the department said on Facebook.

The child “appeared lethargic” inside the car, which was “parked in full sun, no shade, not running, with the windows cracked,” the post said.

Grady’s 2-year-old grandchild was allegedly left alone inside a hot car in the Publix parking lot for 16 minutes when temperatures were above 90 degrees, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office. (iStock)

A manager at Publix was able to reach into the car to unlock it and brought the toddler into the store to cool down. Grady then approached them inside the store and “took custody of the child.”

“[Grady] left Publix but was later located by deputies who also checked on the child and found her to be in good health,” the sheriff’s office said.

INDIANA COUPLE LEFT KIDS IN 125-DEGREE HEAT FOR OVER 40 MINUTES WHILE SHOPPING AT WALMART: POLICE

When the toddler was left in the car, it was 91 degrees outside with a heat index of 101 degrees, according to the sheriff’s office. It was also determined that the toddler had been alone in the car for about 16 minutes.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office posted a reminder on Facebook about how quickly temperatures can rise inside a car that’s turned off, sharing that on a 90-degree day, cars can reach 120 degrees within 30 minutes and 138 degrees after 90 minutes.

Volusia County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Publix in Ormond Beach after reports of a child alone in a hot car at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday. (Volusia Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)

“Let’s avoid tragedy and remember NOT to leave children, pets, or vulnerable adults in a hot vehicle even if it’s only supposed to be a few minutes,” the Volusia Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.