Shark attack victim says he punched shark in gills to escape

A man bitten by a shark off Cape Cod this month said he escaped by punching the powerful predator in the gills after it clamped down on his leg.

In his first interview since the attack on August 15, William Lytton said he had been swimming in about "eight to 10 feet" of water off Massachusetts.

He said he felt incredible pain shoot through his left leg and quickly realised he was being attacked by a shark.

The 61-year-old neurologist from Scarsdale, New York, said he gave the animal a strong smack in the gills with his left hand - a move which likely saved his life but also resulted in some torn tendons.

He now sports an arm cast as well as bandages and a brace around most of his left leg.

"It doesn’t feel like I did anything heroic, a lot of this was luck," he said, recounting the ordeal following a physical therapy session at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, where he has been since Sunday.

Lytton said he recalled from nature documentaries, the gills were one of the most vulnerable parts of the shark.

After the animal broke its grip, he took a few strong stokes back to shore where he shouted for help.

Someone alerted his wife, who had been on the beach with their two young daughters and family friends.

Other beachgoers - including off-duty nurses - helped stem the bleeding and carried him up to the beach car park as he started to lose consciousness.

"The pain was really excruciating...I remember the helicopter landing and then nothing for the next two days." Lytton said.

Lytton was airlifted to Tufts Medical Centre in Boston where he said he was placed into a two-day coma, underwent six surgeries and had nearly 12 pints of blood pumped into him.

The shark, fortunately, missed critical nerves and veins, although pieces of shark teeth were cleaned out of his wounds.

His bandages also cover "hundreds" of sutures used to stitch back together muscles and skin, Lytton said.

“It looks very artistic,” he said of his battle wounds.

Lytton was transferred on Sunday to a rehabilitation hospital where many of the most severely injured survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing were treated.

He is expected to be there around two weeks before eventually returning to New York for possibly more rehab.

The 61-year-old said he is not in any rush to wade back into the ocean waters off Cape Cod, where he spends every summer doing research.

"It’s kind of terrifying thinking about it...

"I know it’s not the best thing to say, but I didn’t like sharks before, and like them even less now," he added.

Lytton’s wife, June, said she hopes the attack is a warning for others to take shark safety seriously.

"It happened so close to shore. I never thought that could happen." she said standing at her husband’s side.

Biologists are working to determine what type of shark was involved in the attack, which was the first in Massachusetts waters since 2012.

Meanwhile, shark sightings have continued to close Cape Cod beaches as the tourist destination prepares for Labour Day weekend.