The Jaspers Brush resident and father of three was surfing at Seven Mile Beach, Gerroa on Saturday morning when he was bitten.

He had just caught a wave and was standing on a sandbar 20 metres from shore, about to paddle back out when a shark latched onto his lower leg and foot.

“I felt a squishing sensation and something push on my leg. I thought someone had jammed their board into the back of my leg, but I knew there wasn’t anyone there,” he said.

“I turned around and the shark was in the water behind my board.

“At that stage I didn’t think I had been bitten.

“I could see its fins above the water, it was just moving from side to side in the one spot. Then it thrashed and went underwater and disappeared.”

Mr Wade, most likely in shock at that stage, paddled back out and told other surfers he had seen a shark and that he thought he might have been bitten.

His wetsuit had concealed most of the bite, however puncture marks and a large gash on top of his foot confirmed he had been bitten.

“It was the bony part of my foot, where about four inches on top was exposed,” he said.

“Maybe shock or adrenalin took over but I didn’t feel pain.

“It didn’t feel like a bite, more like a squeeze.”

A group of surfers escorted Mr Wade back to the beach where they cut away his wetsuit to reveal an injury that covered from his foot to halfway up his shin.

“Someone wrapped the wound while we waited for an ambulance, he said.

Mr Wade was taken to Shoalhaven Hospital where he received 50 stitches.

Hospital staff told him he was incredibly lucky the shark hadn’t damaged an artery.

“I didn’t think much of it really but 50 stitches is a fair bit.

“I guess if it had been a small child the shark could have taken its whole leg.”

Mr Wade has been surfing on and off since his early teens.

Like many surfers he said a fear of sharks only tends to surface when he’s out alone.

He said about 20 other surfers were out at the time he was bitten.