A canal boater was rushed to hospital after his fingers were shredded by a giant pike as he reached into the water.
Steve Lightfoot had placed his hand into Macclesfield Canal near Bosley, Cheshire, to retrieve his sunglasses after they slipped from his face.
However he was left covered in blood when a 3ft-long pike sank its teeth into his hand.
The 55-year-old, who lives on a canal boat, was treated in hospital and says his bandaged fingers can still bleed from the deep cut one week on.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News, Steve said: "When I put my hand in there was a flurry of water and I felt a sharp pain and this pike was falling back into the water.
"I looked at my hand and it was red with blood, I wrapped it in a flannel but that wasn’t big enough so I used a towel.
"At the hospital they had never seen this before so had to research it. The pike is a member of the barracuda family, it is nasty and shredded my fingers."
Although there appears to be no lasting damage, Steve is now more mindful about what may lurk beneath the surface.
Steve said: "Things are always falling off the boat and into the water, but I won’t be putting my hand in again. I was wary about Weil’s disease but it never even crossed my mind about fish.”
A spokesman for the Canal and River Trust said: “The pike's mouth contains a fierce arsenal of teeth, with rows of backward-pointing, razor sharp teeth in the top jaw and larger needle-like teeth in the lower jaw.”
