Sean Pollard’s life trajectory changed irrevocably after a shark attacked him while he was surfing in October 2014.
The then-23 year old was a carefree surfer doing his thing off the coast of Esperance in Western Australia when, in the blink of an eye, his plans were turned upside down. In a horrific moment, two great white sharks tore off his left arm and right hand. One of the sharks was later measured at nearly three-and-a-half metres long.
In an instant, the WA-native was thrown from the ‘surfing dream’ he’d been living into a completely different existence.
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Pollard was rushed to Esperance Hospital, with the Royal Flying Doctor Service delivering life-saving blood before airlifting Pollard to Royal Perth Hospital for emergency surgery and a long stint in intensive care.
Sean Pollard had a long road to recovery after his shark attack in 2014. Sean Pollard Website
“The shark attack was in 2014. So I think of it now as ‘it’s a bit like a bad dream’, which pops up every now and then,” he said, speaking exclusively to Wide World of Sports.
“I kind of reflect back on that, and I feel stronger as a person having lived through that.
“It was obviously a very challenging time, but it’s also opened up some great opportunities for me.
“It’s funny how life works out, and I don’t think I’d change anything.”
Those “great opportunities” ended up being on the slopes, joining the Paralympic snowboarding cohort for Team Australia.
With 100 days to go until the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Pollard casually admitted to Wide World of Sports that he could have been competing in the summer games just as easily as the winters.
“[In the initial email], I actually put in for table tennis and snowboarding to Paralympics Australia, but I didn’t hear from the table tennis,” he quipped.
“So, I’m a snowboarder now.”
Pollard was living the surfing dream in WA before the attack. Sean Pollard Website
After finding a love for the sport on a boys’ trip to Canada, he emailed about opportunities with the national Paralympic team and found himself training with the nation’s elite.
In 2018, just four years after his near-fatal attack, he donned the green and gold to compete in the Pyeongchang Games.
Pollard posted a fifth place finish in the para-snowboard banked slalom and came ninth in snowboard cross.
From those 2018 Games, two of the four para-snowboarders that competed will be contesting in Milan – Pollard as well as Ben Tudhope.
Tudhope was the youngest Paralympian on the Australian team in 2018, pipping veteran Michael Milton by a couple of days when he competed as a 14-year-old in Sochi.
Pollard missed the 2022 Games due to Western Australia’s lingering COVID-19 restrictions, but was tapped to lead our Australian winter Paralympic group as team captain for the Milano-Cortina Games.
Sean Pollard competes for Team Australia in snowboarding. Getty
Pollard and other para-snowboarding athletes admit they have quite the pedigree of snowboarders to train with.
All athletes heading to Milan-Cortina, both able-bodied and para, trained with each other during the most recent Australian winter season in Jindabyne, learning and sharing experiences.
“We as winter athletes, train a lot with the able-bodied guys, so we’ll see them around Jindabyne and train a lot with them at the National Snow Sports Training Centre there,” he added.
“So we feel like we’re a part of their group as well, and they take us in under their wing and we all work together.
“Everyone is working just as hard to make their spot on the team and put your best foot forward.”
Australia is in the midst of an up and coming winter sports movement. In snowboarding, our prowess on the slopes as a nation is only getting stronger.
On the Olympic team, veteran Scotty James leads the charge, aiming for the elusive gold medal that has escaped his grasp at the previous four Games.
Scotty James has contested four Winter Olympics and will be looking for a gold medal run. Getty
Young gun Valentino Guseli will aim to break his own halfpipe air world record that sits at 7.30 metres and cement his name with the sport’s legends. He’ll also be looking to become the first snowboarder to contest all three disciplines on offer: half-pipe, big air and slopestyle.
On the Paralympic side, Tudhope will be looking to add to his medal tally while rookie Aaron McCarthy will be aiming for a standout debut Games.
“So yeah, we all work together closely with the Olympic team, especially in the snowboard side of things,” Pollard added.
“We do take things away from each other.
“I think the level of expertise on the Olympic team is unmatched at the moment, there’s multiple World Cup podium winners, so we can look to them for inspiration.
“I think they look to us a bit for…perspective, to see the amazing things that we can accomplish.”
Pollard’s next challenge is to find the maturity to lead and mentor a group of 15 potential winter para-athletes.
Sean Pollard will captain Australia’s winter Paralympic team in 2026. Instagram
From para-alpine skiing, para-snowboard, para-biathlon and para-cross country; the Australian Paralympic squad is hugely diverse.
McCarthy will be a debutant at these 2026 Games, while Milton makes a 20-year return to skiing as one of the oldest in the squad heading to Italy, should he qualify.
Pollard’s job is to unite the team and be a sounding board between the athletes and the governing bodies.
“We’re such a diverse group of different people and different abilities, and different sports as well,” he reiterated to Wide World of Sports.
“We’re going to pull together, and obviously winter sports is small in Australia.
“But we’re a close-knit family and this group is really going to connect with Australians when the Games come around in March.”
Pollard’s biggest change in life is his mental state heading to the Games, he jokes about how “mature” he has become in the years after his attack and since having a family.
But he knows there is always time for a “rev-up” in the Paralympic village.
“I’ve changed a lot since my younger days as a tradie, surfer and a bit of a partier,” he said.
“Taking on the role as team captain, it’s very serious and mature,” he added, laughing.
14 of the Paralympic hopefuls unveiled the Winter uniform, created by R.M Williams. Supplied
“I’m going to bring [a] very mature, level head to the team.
“But I want to be a voice for the athletes if anything comes up, and we need to bring that with the staff or the Games committee. We’ll be working on that.
“And yeah, maybe some rev ups at halftime.”
Pollard will have his family in the stands and most importantly, his wife, Claire.
She, alongside their daughter Mila, will be cheering on at the Games and for Pollard, they will be the most important people on the slopes that day.
Claire was surfing alongside Pollard when he was attacked on his surfboard 11 years ago and has ridden every metaphorical wave of ups and downs in the couple’s life.
Sean Pollard and his family will be in Milan for the Paralympic Games. Supplied
“With the shark attack, I’d think about where I’d been up until I was 23 and what I was doing. I was in hospital, just lying there for hours and hours, looking over my life and thinking about it all,” Pollard said to Paralympics Australia.
“That’s where the maturity comes into it.
“Whereas for a younger guy it’s more about having fun, it’s still about having fun now, but, as you grow as a person, things just become a little bit more meaningful. It makes the experience a little bit different, I guess.
“I still have that same energy inside of me as the young surfer that would go after everything, but I channel it into better things nowadays.”
The Milan-Cortina Paralympics will begin on March 6, 2026.
