"Don't tell mum."
Those were the words 17-year-old surfer Cooper Allen managed to utter mere moments after being mauled by a massive shark at a New South Wales beach.
Allen was rushed to hospital shortly after 9am (local time) after he was bitten on the hip off Light House Beach.
The youth made his own way out of the water and was assisted by a nurse and other surfers before he was taken to Lismore Base Hospital.
Witnesses said the large shark left several deep gashes in his leg.