Shark attack survivor Cooper Allen vows to get back into the surf
SHARK attack survivor Cooper Allen has vowed to “get back into the water” after his lucky escape from the “utter horror” of a great white shark attack.
NSW
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SHARK attack survivor Cooper Allen has vowed to “get back into the water” after his lucky escape from the “utter horror” of a great white shark attack.
The 17-year-old said he was sure he was “going to bleed to death” in the aftermath of the attack at Lighthouse Beach in Ballina during his morning surf last month.
Only his board saved him from losing his leg to the shark, which left four big gashes on his thigh and even stalked him as he scrambled back to shore.
“I remember thinking, ‘Am I going to bleed to death? Am I going to die?’ ” he told Channel 7’s Sunday Night. “I felt the power of this thing, the pressure … I saw a fin just cutting across ... I turned to the other two guys surfing with me, Tom and Jae, and their faces were just utter horror.”
Tom Harper and Jae Waters were terrified when they saw the shark’s fin thrashing and their friend underwater after being knocked off his board.
“I was scared but it was my mate, so we had to help him out,” Mr Harper said.
The predator stalked the trio as they rushed back to shore to get help.
Cooper was in the water for 40 minutes and had no warning the shark was bearing down on him until it bit into his board and thigh.
“You can see why they say they’re a stoic predator, I had no clue he was anywhere near me,” he said.
The teenager is still recovering from the encounter, but said he would return to the surf when his leg heals.
“I want to get back into the water,” he said. “The water is just where I like to be I guess. I want to surf again.”
Cooper’s mother Marika Griffiths was in Broome when she heard a teenager had been attacked at Lighthouse Beach. “I thought if that’s not Cooper it will be somebody he knows,” she said.
“I was very aware (of the risks) and would routinely talk to Cooper about the risks. You d talk to local people and they tell you things about seeing great whites … you hear that regularly.
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