A young South African actor took up surfing – after having his right leg bitten off by a great white shark. Caleb Swanepoel, 26, of Cape Town, South Africa, was a young acting student with a love of the outdoors when, at the age of 20, his life changed forever. Bodysurfing in the sea during a family holiday, he was attacked by a great white shark, which pulled him underwater and severed his right leg above the knee.