Graphic images have been shared online showing the extent of a teenager’s injuries after he was attacked by a great white shark off the coast of Australia.
Cooper Allen suffered “severe lacerations” to his leg after being attacked by the suspected 3.5-metre shark on Monday.
But the 17-year-old seemed in good spirits after a photo was posted online showing him giving a thumb’s up from a hospital bed hours after the attack.
A gruesome image posted alongside the smiling patient shows four deep bite marks on his upper right thigh.
Yet despite the graphic wounds, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the teenage surfer did not have to have surgery and instead received stitches and was expected to leave hospital on Tuesday.
Allen was surfing in Ballina, in New South Wales, on Monday morning when he was knocked off his board and bitten on the leg.
Witnesses said that Allen was lucky his surf board “took the brunt” of the shark’s attack as his injuries could have been much more severe.
The teenager was helped to shore by other surfers and was given first aid by an off-duty nurse.
A photo of the shark, believed to have attacked Allen, was shared online after being chased away by Surf Life Saving NSW lifeguards on jet skis.
Several beaches were closed as a precaution on Monday following the attack.