Just as his wife was snapping of photo of him grinning on deck while holding a prized catch of the day, thing’s turned scary fast for San Diegan Dan Carlin.
They were heading back to dock after a day of fishing, when Trish Carlin said they decided to take a photo with a fish they caught. Dan grabbed a fish and posed.
“Trish says ‘Ok smile,’” Dan said.
“So I snapped Dan’s picture,” Trish said.
“And the minute that she said ‘smile,’ a sea lion came up and grabbed my hand and the fish at the same time, ripped my arm straight down right here, crushing my chest with unbelievable force,” Dan told 10 News.
“It was terrifying. When the sea lion was taking me down and I was going at that rate of speed I knew I was going to die,” Dan said. “This wasn’t this could be it – this was this is it.”
Dan thinks he was under and struggling with the sea lion for about 20 seconds. Finally, he breaks free and swims up.
“Just before I got to the surface I felt him biting my foot,” Dan said.
