Teen Punches Shark, Escapes Savage Attack

[mrmoshe]

Teen punches shark, escapes savage attack

A PERTH teenager bitten by a shark while holidaying on the Cocos Islands says he's glad it was him who was attacked, and and not his little brother.

Fifteen-year-old Angus Chapman managed to punch what he says was a bronze whaler shark on the snout after it bit him on the leg three times.

The teenager received severe lacerations and tendon and muscle damage in the attack in the Cocos Island, 2,750km north-west of Perth.

He was flown to Perth and underwent three hours of surgery yesterday.

Angus said he was glad his six-year-old brother, who was swimming next to him, was not harmed during the attack.

"If I didn't punch it, then I would have lost my leg and if it got my brother then he probably would have died, which is a lot worse.''

The Perth schoolboy's surgeon Tim Cooper praised the teenager's quick thinking.

"He told someone to put a tourniquet on his limb, which is the correct thing to do if you've got major vessel injury and I believe if a shark won't let go, you've got to punch it in the face,'' he said.

A Cocos Island dive instructor has questioned whether it was a shark that attacked the boy, suggesting a barracuda may be responsible.

[PM79]

I think a 15yr old would know the difference between a shark and a barracuda.