The near-fatal shark attack hasn’t put Angus Kockot off returning to the ocean (Picture: Angus Kockott / SWNS
A 20-year-old tourist was nearly killed after an eight-foot shark left his arm looking like a ‘stripped drumstick.’
A snorkelling trip in the shallow waters of Mangareva, French Polynesia, almost ended up being the last for Angus Kockott.
He miraculously survived an encounter with an eight-foot two-inch shark after venturing into its territory in the tropical paradise known for its clear blue waters.
Angus was on a sailing excursion with his friend around the Gambier Island when the life-threatening attack happened on May 23 after the pair separated to do some freediving.
Angus swimming around Mangareva in French Polynesia, before the attack (Picture: Angus Kockott / SWNS)
One tooth of the shark that bit Angus (Picture: Angus Kockott / SWNS)
Suddenly, the animal – a suspected reef shark – approached Angus from behind a reef, leaving him just enough time to use his arm to protect his head and neck – and pull out a tiny four-inch blade.
The South African said: ‘Seeing that shark right before it bit me – that was a real ‘oh sh*t’ moment.
‘My first reaction was to get my knife used for cutting lines, and I just went for the shark as hard as I could.
Doctors managed to save his severed arm with damaged nerves and tendons (Picture: Angus Kockott / SWNS)
The state of his arm after skin and nerve grafts (Picture: Angus Kockott / SWNS)
‘It was only a little knife, but I’m very glad I had it on that day.
‘After it released my arm, I couldn’t see anything except for a huge pool of blood around me, but I managed to stand up on a reef.
‘My arm was literally squirting blood – it looked like a stripped drumstick.’
Despite the odds stacked against him, Angus managed to stab the shark into its gills and not panic.
‘When the shark bit, I didn’t have time to panic – you just have to act when you have that kind of adrenaline in those situations,’ he explained.
The pristine waters around Gambier Islands in French Polynesia where the shark attack happened (Picture: Angus Kockott / SWNS)
‘At first I felt immense pain – I really thought I would lose my arm.’
Quick-thinking Angus used his goggles to create a makeshift tourniquet to stop blood loss before his friend helped him to a nearby town, Rikitea, from where he was flown to Taaone Hospital in Tahiti on a military aircraft.
He said if the shark had gone for his jugular vein or attacked him again he ‘would’ve been toast’ and too injured to ‘fight back or get away.’
‘I can’t wait until I can go back’
Angus and his friend sailing around the Gambier Islands before the dive (Picture: Angus Kockott / SWNS)
Two major nerves in his arm had been severed along with some tendons, leaving him with hardly any movement or feeling.
A day after the attack the doctors took his arm ‘apart and but it back together’ in a six-hour surgery.
He had skin grafts from his left thigh and nerves were transplanted from the back of his heel.
Surgeons retrieved several full teeth and tooth fragments from the injured limb.
After flying back home to East London, South Africa, for further treatments and recovery, Angus reflected on the ‘defining experience.’
He said he will turn the teeth into earrings as a reminder of the near-death experience.
The sailing enthusiast said: ‘It’s been a defining experience in my life and that’s why I’m getting the teeth made into earrings.
‘It hasn’t put me off being in the ocean – I can’t wait until I can go back.
‘My assumption was it was a territory thing – you can’t blame the animal.’
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