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WEBVTT KEY PLACE TO STRIKE THE SHARK THAT LIKELY SAVED HIS LIFE. EACH LABORED STEP BRINGS 61-YEAR-OLD WILLIAM LINTON CLOSER TO RECOVERY. THE NEW YORK NEUROLOGIST NEVER ANTICIPATED A HALF HOUR SWIM OFF CAPE COD WOULD RESULT IN THIS. >> AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES I REMEMBER LOOKING AT MY WATCH, AND THEN I WAS ATTACKED. Reporter: HE SAYS INCREDIBLE PAIN SHOT THROUGH HIS LEFT LEG AND THEN FELT THE POWER OF THE PREDATOR. >> THE SHARK IS ACTUALLY TRYING TO TURN ME OVER. THERE WAS A LOT OF WHITE WATER THRASHING. Reporter: INJURIES TO LINTON'S HANDS CAME FROM HIS EFFORT TO ESCAPE. THE MOMENT CAME AS THE SHARK WRESTLED HIM OUT OF THE WATER. >> THE WHOLE HEAD OF THE SHARK IS ABOVE WATER AND MY ARM WAS ABOVE WATER AND I WAS ABLE TO GET A GOOD SMASH ON THE GILL WHICH IS WHY I TORE THESE TWO TENDONS HERE. Reporter: IN THAT FRANTIC MOMENT LYNN -- LINTON REMEMBERED THE GILLS ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE. >> IT IS REMARKABLE. YOU HIT THE THING AND IT LET GO. IT WAS NOT HAPPY. Reporter: PULLING HIMSELF TO SHORE GRAVELY INJURED. >> A CLOUD OF BLOOD TRAILING BEHIND ME. Reporter: HE WORRIED ABOUT LOSING CONSCIOUSNESS. FELLOW BEACHGOERS RUSHED TO HELP. HE WAS PLACED IN A MEDICALLY ENDUCED COMA AND HAD A HALF DOZEN SURGERIES AND FRAGMENTS OF TOOTH FOUND IN HIS LEG. LINTON HAS WEEKS OF WORK AHEAD OF HIM AT SPALDING REHAB AND ONE MORE SURGERY, BUT HE IS GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE. >> STEP FORWARD. PERFECT. Reporter: GRATEFUL AND TRULY LUCKY. THE SHARK MISSED CRITICAL NERVES AND VEINS. HE CONFIRMED THAT THIS WAS FOR SURE A GREAT WHITE SHARK. THE LAST TIME THERE WAS A GREAT WHITE ATTACK WAS IN

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Biologist and shark expert Greg Skomal, who leads shark research off the coast of Massachusetts every summer, says he is confident the shark that bit a visitor to Cape Cod earlier this month was a great white. In his first interview since the Aug. 15 attack, William Lytton said he'd been swimming in about "8 to 10 feet" of water off Truro, Massachusetts, when he felt an incredible pain shoot through his left leg and quickly realized 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 that likely saved his life but also resulted in some torn tendons. Lytton was airlifted to Tufts Medical Center 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.Fragments of a shark tooth removed from Lytton's wounds, as well as Lytton's description of the attack, are the key evidence for Skomal's conclusion that a great white was responsible for the attack.This was the first shark attack in Massachusetts' waters since 2012. The state's last fatal attack was in 1936.The shark, fortunately, missed Lytton's critical nerves and veins and didn't leave major bone damage, though pieces of shark teeth were cleaned out of his wounds and his bandages cover "hundreds" of sutures used to stitch back together muscles and skin, Lytton said."It looks very artistic," he said diplomatically of his battle wounds.Lytton said he isn't in any rush to wade back into the ocean waters off Cape Cod, where he spends nearly every summer doing research."It's kind of terrifying, thinking about it," he said. "I know it's not the best thing to say, but I didn't like sharks before and like them even less now."Lytton faces several more weeks of rehabilitation and at least one more surgery as he recovers from the painful attack.