Paramedics have treated a Sydney man for dehydration and skin chaffing this morning after he was released from a record-shattering 17-hour handshake with a charity worker in Martin Place.

“My hand was almost stripped to the bone,” the victim said. “I tried everything from pretending I couldn’t speak English to chewing through my own arm but only a credit card would release his iron grip.”

“He was a tough one alright, but I broke him in the end!” the charity worker, a backpacker from Ireland, said. “Usually by the fourth hour of handshaking they’re begging to give me their credit card, but this bloke really made me work for my commission – I mean, donation for the charity.”

A spokesperson for People for Endangered Baby African Pets with Cancer, the charity at the center of the stand-off, told the Sydney Sentinel they were “thrilled with the outcome” and would be celebrating at Tetsuya’s that evening.