A man who survived a shark attack is now turning the teeth left embedded in his arm into jewellery. Angus Kockott, 20, was enjoying a snorkelling session in the shallow waters off Mangareva, French Polynesia, when he was ambushed by what is believed to be a 2.5m grey reef shark .
In a moment of quick-thinking bravery, Angus whipped out a 4in blade he carried for cutting diving lines and stabbed the predator in the gills, managing to escape to safety. Following the attack, an emergency military aircraft rushed him to the nearest hospital for a critical six-hour operation. The vicious bite cut through two major nerves and some tendons in Angus' arm, leading to skin and nerve grafts, with doctors removing several teeth and tooth fragments from the wound.
Despite still being in the process of physiotherapy and nerve treatment, Angus is eager to dive back into the ocean and hasn't been deterred by the ordeal. He says the incident was a "defining experience" and has plans to fashion earrings from the shark teeth extracted from his arm. Angus said: "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.
At first I felt immense pain - I really thought I would lose my arm. "After my nerve graft and skin grafts, it's healing well but I'm taking it day by day. It's been a defining experience in my life and that's why I'm getting the teeth made into earrings.
"It was only a little knife, but I'm very glad I had it.
