Lucky shark missed arm says surfer

A surfer said he was lucky not to lose an arm when a shark bit his board off Australia’s most populous state on Tuesday.

Justin Daniels, 42, suffered a single tooth puncture wound to the back of his left hand when the shark clamped its jaws around the board’s edge off Shelley Beach, 60 miles north of Sydney.

“I’m just lucky I’ve still got my left arm,” Mr Daniels told reporters. “It easily could have taken my hand or my arm or come back for me.”

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The attack was the 13th off the New South Wales state coast this year, according to records compiled by Sydney’s Taronga Zoo. There were only three attacks off New South Wales last year, including two fatalities.

Mr Daniels, who surfs daily, said he was paddling his board out to sea when a 6ft shark struck from beneath.

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