MELBOURNE, Australia — A diver has told how he cheated death after a fishing spear pierced his chest just centimetres from his heart. Brett Clarke, 39, was swimming off Cape Schanck, southeast of Melbourne, when a mate accidentally shot him on Sunday. The experienced spearfisherman yesterday told how he feared for his life after the metre-long spear from his friend Jim Bigness' gun slammed into his chest, puncturing his left lung. "As I was lying there I thought of my wife and two boys," Mr Clarke said. "I thought, is this it, am I going to die here?" He said he did not realise he had been shot until he saw the stainless-steel spear sticking out of his chest. "We were swimming in a single file formation through these rockpools when I felt this large smack on my back," he said. "I put my hand down and felt the spear beside me. The pain was excruciating." Mr Clarke attempted to swim back to the shore. "We got washed on to a rock shelf and when we were washing back the spear caught on the rocks and went in further. I started to get pins and needles and I kept trying not to blackout because there was still a lot of work to do to get me back in to shore. "I forced myself to stay awake and calmed myself down and concentrated on my breathing." He was flown to hospital where firefighters cut off the shaft before doctors successfully removed the barb. "I spoke with him (Mr Bigness) this morning and I said it was a bad accident," Mr Clarke said. "I've only got one rule ... from now on when we go diving together he's at one end of the beach and I'm at the other." | 
