Elliot Paerata-Reid with his parents Jamarl Paerata and TV3's Melanie Reid.
The 10-year-old son of TV3 presenter Melanie Reid was attacked by a shark while surfing at Manu Bay, Raglan, earlier today.
Elliot Paerata-Reid was surfing with his father Jamarl when the shark came up and snapped at the boy's foot.
"I thought it was a rock at first,
then it just came up and bit me," Elliot said.
He became frightened when the water around him started to discolour from blood.
Mr Paerata, who was in the water with Elliot at the time, said a degree of panic set in. "I just thought it was a sort of a nudge, but I heard Elliot say 'get out, get out.' I said to him 'it's just a small one' but it rolled over and took off, and then I saw blood coming out of his foot."
The shark was about the same size as Eliott, Mr Paerata said. He did not know what kind of shark it was but described it as a grey one with darker grey spots on its white belly.
Elliot said his father ditched his own board, asking another surfer to take care of it, and immediately began paddling in to shore with him.
Mrs Reid saw the drama unfolding from the water's edge and heard her son screaming. She felt dazed about what her son had gone through but managed to calm down once medics had attended to the injury.
Mr Paerata said his son had received cuts to the base and top of the foot, which had been stitched.
Elliot, who lives at Piha with his parents, said it was "a bit of a shame" the summer had got off to such a frightening start, but promised he would be back in the water surfing once the injury had healed.
