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Eric Nerhus, 41, was diving off the New South Wales south coast today when the 3m shark seized him head on, crunching on his head, shoulders and chest, he told friends later.

Protected from the worst of the shark's bite by a lead-lined weight vest, the diver stabbed and clubbed at the creature's head and eyes with an abalone chisel until it spat him free.

The shark's bite crushed Mr Nerhus's reinforced face mask, broke his nose, and shredded his wetsuit.

With blood pouring from deep wounds to his head, chest and back, Mr Nerhus surfaced off Cape Howe, near Eden, to be pulled aboard a boat by his son Mark, 25.

Suffering blood loss and shock, he was flown to Wollongong Hospital, where he was stable and conscious tonight, telling friends of his miraculous escape.

"He was actually bitten by the head down, the shark swallowed his head," said fellow diver and friend Dennis Luobikis.

"I think Eric's the first professional abalone diver that's actually survived a white pointer attack," added Mr Luobikis, 52.

"Eric is a tough boy, he's super fit.

"But I would say that would test anyone's resolve, being a fish lunch.

"He'd have a better chance of winning the lotto (than surviving that attack), and I think he would have rather done that."

Mr Nerhus was searching for abalone in weedy, murky waters nine metres deep.

"He come up to the surface, he was going: `Help. Help there's a shark, there's a shark'," son Mark Nerhus told TV networks.

"I went over and there was a big pool of red blood and I pulled him out of the water and he was going: `Just get me to shore, get me to shore'."

Divers in a nearby boat gave first aid and one radioed his father, who was flying overhead in a spotter plane, to call for emergency help.

The Snowy Hydro Rescue Helicopter arrived shortly after 11.10am and airlifted Mr Nerhus to Wollongong Hospital, where he may undergo surgery as early as tomorrow for his injuries, a spokeswoman said.

But tonight, Mr Nerhus was sitting up and talking about his experience and was in a stable condition, the spokeswoman said.

Doctors said the shark had "taken the diver completely into its mouth".

But Mr Luobikis said Mr Nerhus' weight vest had probably saved his life.

All divers need lead to submerge but abalone divers use a lead vest rather than a weight belt.

"We've always felt (the vest) would probably help us in a shark attack and this is the first time we've had it confirmed," Mr Luobikis said.

There had been a rash of white pointer sightings in recent weeks thanks to unusually cold waters off Eden, but such an attack was unheard of, Mr Luobikis said.

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Shark Attack

Tags:

scary , shark , shark attack , diver , abalone , fighting off a tremendous beast , horrifying