Teen mauled by shark didn't want his mum to know after mate killed by great white
The teenage surfer who was attacked by a shark didn't want his mother to find out because she had asked him to stop surfing after his friend was killed by a great white.
Cooper Allen was left with a large gash to his leg after a shark latched on while surfing off Lighthouse Beach, in Ballina on September 26.
The 17-year-old managed to paddle himself into shore after the attack, where he was helped by a nurse on the beach.
Mr Allen waited for paramedics and calmly told rescuers to not tell his mother, Marika Griffiths, about the attack.
Ms Griffiths had begged her son to give up surfing after his close friend Tadashi Nakahara was killed by a shark and another friend was badly hurt in a separate attack months later, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Mr Nakahara, a 41-year-old Japanese national, was killed by a 4m great white while surfing at Shelly Beach in February 2015.
It's believed Mr Allen had clashed with his mother repeatedly over his refusal to give up the sport he loved.
"Mum was furious when she found out, she's told him off so many times, she would have said 'I told you' but he's mad keen and won't listen," his brother told the newspaper.
Mr Allen had reportedly been embracing the female attention he had received since the attack.
“He told me ‘they’re going to be all over me when I get out ... it’s made me popular with the girls’,” his brother said.
Despite Mr Allen's humour and carefree attitude, the teen was left shaken when his leg rope became tangled during the attack as he attempted to paddle away.
Mr Allen required stitches for the large gashes on his leg and is still recovering at Lismore Base Hospital.
NSW Premiere Mike Baird said authorities are doing all they can to keep beachgoers safe, including the use of drone technology.
Lighthouse Beach was one of two sites where a shark barrier trial was called off over winter after the barriers failed to withstand rough conditions.
Mr Allen recently spoke out against the trial, saying it wouldn't stop him from getting in the surf.
"We still go out there without the net, at our own choice. I don't think there is any need for it," he said.
All beaches in the Ballina area were closed for 24 hours after the attack.
