‘The longer I left it, the more it was going to freak me out’: how Will returned to the water after a close call with a shark

Getting back on the horse' after a traumatic experience requires risk assessment - but there are tools we can use to reframe our thinking and move forward

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon in April 2010 when Will Salter stood on the shore and appraised a reef break on Victoria's Mornington peninsula. He can tell you the exact time, too: 5pm.

As he paddled for 10 minutes towards three other surfers, he could smell remnants from a whale carcass that had washed up months earlier. Seagulls circled.

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