An Australian man who survived a shark attack has won the right to keep a tooth from the creature that became lodged in his surfboard.

Shark

Shark

Chris Blowes had to have his leg amputated and was left in a coma for 10 days after he was mauled by the shark in 2015.

Blowes was unable to keep the tooth at first as it came from a great white shark - a protected species in Australia - but the authorities have granted him an exemption and he now plans to keep the tooth as a "souvenir" from the fateful day he was attacked.

He told the BBC: "It was stuck in my board,

"I would never kill a shark for its tooth but it took my leg [so] I can't see any reason why I can't have that.

"The shark isn't getting its tooth back [and] I'm not getting my leg back."