It could have been my last day!!

In 1992 I was studying for my M.A. Economics at University of West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica. It was my first year as well as my first year outside my country India. I liked Jamaica a lot. Very beautiful nation. I fell in love with a classmate. She was from England. Her name was Catrina Cottif.

One of the weekends we had time so we went to Montego Bay. We liked our stay there. The Saturday we planned a trip that was about a few kilometers from the shore and into the sea. We hired a small boat. The guy sailing it was Raoul who had a lot of prior sailing experience.

Me: "Raoul, it is pretty safe out here, right?"

Raoul: "Yeah, sir. Yeah. Pretty unlikely that a shark approaches us but can happen. Happened few years ago and someone got badly injured. Many years ago 2 people died."

I was a little scared. "Ok, ok! I guess we won't stay out here long. We will go back soon."

Raoul: "As you wish, sir. We can do that."

Catrina: "Anshu, come on! We should stay here for a little while. The water looks so nice."

She and I decided to go into the water very close to the boat and not far off. Raoul sternly told us to stay as close to the boat as possible.

Catrina and I had a nice time swimming near the boat. We swam about 25 feet away from it and the started swimming back. Soon, we are about 10 feet away. From a distance out of nowhere a shark swiftly started swimming towards us. We saw it and panicked. We started swimming as fast as we could to the boat. Raoul had a shot gun with strong rubber bullets so that he could scare the shark away but he was having difficulty loading it quickly.

Our swimming strokes were furious and we panted as we reached the boat. The shark was closing in on us. I was ahead of Catrina. I swam underneath so that she could come ahead and then I pushed her strongly on to the boat first. Raoul had loaded the gun and was ready to shoot. I came up and was getting on the boat.

The shark came from the back and bit my left leg a little; I screamed as it pained a lot. Raoul shot the bullets at the shark. It hurt it and the shark seemed a little disoriented after that and on its own it swam away. We don't know why it did and why it didn't attack us again. I prayed and thanked God in the prayer. I said to myself, "Anshu, this could have been your last day!! God saved you!"

I was injured but on the boat. Raoul took charge of the boat and feverishly drove it back to shore. Catrina was panicking as well.

Later we reached Montego Bay. I thanked Raoul for helping to save my life. I was able to get medical attention at the hotel I stayed and in a few weeks my left leg had healed up.

Now, it is early 2021. I am a stockbroker in New York, USA. I live with my wife Anna and son Apurva. Catrina and I went our separate ways in 1999 but we have still remained friends since then. She works as a movie actress in England. I have to go for official work in Jamaica for a week soon. Most of my memories from Jamaica are great except the encounter with the shark. I am so scared of the sea that I no longer swim in it; I prefer to swim only in swimming pools.