I was a rag doll in this monster's mouth..I was 30 seconds from death

Survivor of shark attack now teaching celebs to overcome their fears on TV

- BY NICOLA METHVEN

AN expert teaching the cast to dive in new telly show Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters was "30 seconds from death" when a bull shark attacked him.

Aussie Paul de Gelder, 48, was subjected to a frenzied attack in Sydney Harbour during a training exercise with the country’s navy.

He was left in “total agony” as his right hand was bitten off and his hamstring was ripped out of his leg in the eight-second ordeal in 2009.

Afterwards a doctor told him that his life had been saved by one of Paul's navy pals, who pinched the artery in his leg to stem the blood.

De Gelder, presenter of Discovery's Shark Week, had been terrified of sharks since boyhood, but having researched them since his attack, is now dedicated to their conservation.