Shark attacked fisherman on deck

Shark attacked fisherman on deck

An Australian fisherman was attacked by a shark - on the deck of his boat.

The shark's jaws latched so tightly onto his leg that its head had to be cut off to free him, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The shark had been hauled aboard a fishing boat off Coolangatta, on the Gold Coast.

The mako shark, which was three metres long, whipped around and grabbed the man's right calf after he stepped on its tail.

"There are a few hands on the deck and they could not release the shark from the leg at all until they had cut the shark's head off," said a spokesman for RACQ CareFlight, which was called to fly the man to hospital.

"It was locked on. The bite has gone down to the bone. I've seen a photo of the wound and it's pretty messy."

The 20-year-old fisherman is in a stable condition in the Gold Coast Hospital after emergency surgery.

A paramedic, Darrin Hatchman, said the man was lucky to be alive because the bite narrowly missed arteries and major blood vessels and at the back of the knee.