BALLINA, AUSTRALIA — A teenage surfer in Australia was attacked by a great white shark on Monday morning after the local government abandoned the installation of a shark barrier in August.

The victim was 77-year-old Cooper Allen. The attack took place while he was surfing off Lighthouse Beach at Ballina on the north coast of New South Wales.

Cooper was just surfing above the cement base of a half-built shark barrier that was supposed to protect the surfers when a 3.5 meters long great white shark attacked him from behind.

Luckily, the shark was somehow tangled up in Cooper’s legrope and he managed to swim back to shore and was helped by his friends. Cooper requested that the incident not to be reported to his mother after he reached shore.

The installation of a shark barrier at Lighthouse Beach was abandoned after authorities found out the beaches were too rough for the barriers. The shark nets were part of a $16 million State Government package which were supposed to counter shark attacks in the region.