British shark attack survivor describes his lucky escape
- 10 years ago
In an emotional interview British surfer Darren Mills describes how he fought back and managed to escape a shark attack in New Zealand.
A British surfer has described how he fought off a shark that attacked him while he was surfing off the coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Darren Mills said he was surfing around 50 metres (164 feet) off Porpoise Bay, on the southern coast of the South Island, when a shark attacked him.
The 28-year-old said he felt a bump on his surf board and on seeing it was a shark he punched the animal to try and fend it off.
"I was paddling back sort of across the back of the surf and felt a big thump from the shore.
"I looked around and sort of, saw a shark clamp down.
"I sort of realised what was going on and I could see it and tried to punch it, but it was more like a push and I managed to get into shore ... It was really scary, you know."
Mr Mills was left with injuries to his leg and was receiving medical treatment at Southland Hospital in Invercargill.
Despite his ordeal, Mills said he feels "really lucky" and while initially he was scared to even get in a bathtub, now he can't wait to get back into the water.
"I love it you know, I just want to get back and just surf again,"said Mr Mills from his hospital bed.
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A British surfer has described how he fought off a shark that attacked him while he was surfing off the coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Darren Mills said he was surfing around 50 metres (164 feet) off Porpoise Bay, on the southern coast of the South Island, when a shark attacked him.
The 28-year-old said he felt a bump on his surf board and on seeing it was a shark he punched the animal to try and fend it off.
"I was paddling back sort of across the back of the surf and felt a big thump from the shore.
"I looked around and sort of, saw a shark clamp down.
"I sort of realised what was going on and I could see it and tried to punch it, but it was more like a push and I managed to get into shore ... It was really scary, you know."
Mr Mills was left with injuries to his leg and was receiving medical treatment at Southland Hospital in Invercargill.
Despite his ordeal, Mills said he feels "really lucky" and while initially he was scared to even get in a bathtub, now he can't wait to get back into the water.
"I love it you know, I just want to get back and just surf again,"said Mr Mills from his hospital bed.
Get the latest headlines http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Subscribe to The Telegraph http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=telegraphtv
Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/telegraph.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/telegraph
Follow us on Google+ https://plus.google.com/102891355072777008500/
Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.