Image via Shutterstock A California surfer is lucky to be alive and without injury after having an extremely close call with a 10-foot shark. Although the fish knocked him off his board, he managed to use the surfboard to protect him.

A surfer is speaking out after surviving a terrifying close call with a shark in California. Jens Heller was in the water at Montara State Beach when he suddenly felt something beneath the surface, according to ABC affiliate KGO, the San Francisco Chronicle and NBC affiliate KNTV .

A California surfer came face to face with a 10-foot shark when the beast knocked him off his board during a terrifying encounter that the dad feared he wouldn’t walk away from, he said. Jens Heller,