Paul de Gelder

Paul de Gelder joined the Royal Australian Army as a paratrooper in November 2000 at the age of 23 looking for a better life. As a teenage he had run rampant with his friends involved in drinking, fighting and stealing but knew this was no type of life. He subsequently left his home town and started a new life that involved working the bars of strip clubs and an involvement in the Australian music scene, even opening for Snoop Dogg in 1998. Joining the Army was a defining point in his life however. He learnt the art of jungle and urban warfare, unarmed combat, specialist communications, combat first aid, parachuting, snipping and was deployed as a United Nations peacekeeper. In 2005 with a desire to expand on his career and test his metal against the best Paul attempt the arduous Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diver selection process and was accepted into the Dive Team after a year of training. But trouble hunted him down in the form of a brutal shark in February 2009. Paul lost two limbs, and his career as a daredevil Navy Bomb Clearance Diver was flung into jeopardy. Drawing on everything his eventful life had taught him, Paul left nothing to chance in his recovery. He fought through excruciating pain, smashing challenge after challenge, and amazing the medical staff with his will to succeed. His inspiring story takes 'never say die' to a whole new level. In the 7 years since the shark attack, Paul's life has changed in every aspect. Having left full time Navy Service in August 2012, after continuing to instruct Navy Divers for a further 3.5 years, Paul has travelled the world as a top motivational speaker, passionate environmentalist, adventurer and mentor to school kids. He has spoken at venues all around the world, from the United Nations in New York promoting shark conservation, Paris Casino in Las Vegas and the US Navy in San Diego, to Australian Anzac Day military celebrations in front of thousands, and keynotes for multimillion dollar corporations and charity organizations around Australia and New Zealand. He has also been a guest on every major Australian TV talk show and many in the U.S. He starred as a guest trainer on the Biggest Loser Australia, and has co-hosted 6 programs for Discovery Channel's 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017 Shark Week...Great White Matrix, Bride of Jaws, Living with Sharks, Shark Exodus, Sharks vs Crocs & Return to the Isle of Jaws. Also hosting the Nat Geo special 'FEARLESS' in which he embedded with an Anti poaching team in Zimbabwe. Paul hosted behind the scenes footage for the 2016 Hollywood blockbuster 'The Shallows' and interviewed the movies star Blake Lively. Paul has dived with Sharks all over the world including Great Whites without a cage and learnt the art of hand feeding Bull Sharks in Fiji and Great Hammerheads in the Bahamas. Paul has been touted as one of the top 15 inspirational Australians and top 10 speakers and is preparing to film his first acting role in FOXTEL'S 'Fighting Season' and yet more documentaries while continuing his hectic speaking tours and part time Navy diving duties. Show less «