MARINA , Calif. -- When Todd Endris tells his story, it sounds like a script to a sequel to "Jaws" -- the movie that terrorized moviegoers years ago. Then he lifts his shirt -- the jawed tracks of stitched flesh crisscross his back and the nightmare becomes a reality.

Endris was enjoying a day of surfing with friends on August 28 at the Marina State Park near Monterey. It was overcast and a school of dolphins swam nearby.

One moment, Endris was paddling in six feet of water, looking for his next wave. The next, he was in a hand-to-hand fight with a Great White Shark, battling for his life.

"I think I had only been in the water for about 30 minutes...I had gotten in a few good waves, but I had gotten my best one right before it happened. "Endris told KTVU."A quarter second before, I knew something was going to hit me. I knew it was shark… it was giant… there's nothing else that is that big that is going to come straight at you."

Marine experts estimated the shark was 15-feet-long and it launched into a vicious attack --ripping into Endris' wetsuit, tearing into his flesh.

"The first time he hit me, he didn't get me in his mouth so I was sitting on my board and he opened his mouth," Endris said. "Imagine a shark trying to eat you...He just hit me really, really hard."

"It kind of threw me about 10, 12, 15 feet but I still had a hold of my board…I started to try and paddle then he latched on to my torso and my board kind of sandwiched me."

Endris' survival instincts kicked in.

"I'm hitting him with my fist," he said. "I'm reaching around and hitting him on the side of the face."

Nearby his friends watched in horror.

"He (Endris) was under there for probably four seconds," said Joe Jansen. "There was blood everywhere."

As he was battling the shark, the school of dolphins wheeled into action.

"I think the dolphins legitimately saved my life… They (the dolphins) were doing tail whips where they were missing my head by a couple of inches," he said. "They really were trying to keep the shark away from me."

Jansen swam to Endris, telling him repeatedly to grab his board.

"He (Jansen) paddled into the blood ring, you know where I had already lost half my blood and said grab your board," Endris said.

At the same time a wave propelled him and Jansen away from the attack.

"Seriously, God sent us a wave -- me and Joe -- a perfect little wave," he said.

But once on shore, the damage to Endris body was revealed.

"I got pulled up on to the beach by my friends," he said. "They were calming me…telling me not to look -- 'Don't worry, everything is going to be ok.' So that really had a huge impact on what my body was doing. I didn't go into shock because of that."

"The hospital situation wasn't too bad compared to everything that happened in-between, you know," Endris added.

The first bite ripped his flesh for 40 inches from his shoulder blade to almost the top of his leg. The second -- where the shark attempted to swallow his leg -- left a 10-inch gash. Endris lost half of his blood supply.

He was rushed to the hospital where it took five-and-a-half hours of surgery, 500 stitches and 200 staples to put him back together again.

His recovery has given Endris time to reflect.

As for his friends who saved him, Endris says it's hard to put into words what they mean to him.

"They know…it's a priceless, heroic action that all of them did," he said. "You can't really describe how thankful you are for your life. I think my mom probably did it best for me… I love those guys, they are amazing people."

As for a return to the love of his life -- surfing, Endris has already ventured out again at Marina.

"On yeah there's fear," he said. "The first time I surfed, I surfed at the same place I got attacked. It was kind of like biting it in the butt, you know."