Aussie hailed as hero after fighting off shark to save wife

An Australian man saved his wife from a shark attack yesterday by punching the shark until it released her. Police say the couple were surfing at a beach near Port Macquarie, 4 hours north of Sydney, yesterday morning when she was bitten twice on her right leg. Paramedics treated the 35 year old at the beach before she was later airlifted to a major hospital for surgery.

“Her companion was forced to punch the fish until it let go”, according to a police statement.

A witness who was surfing nearby when the attack happened called the man “a hero” for battling what said appeared to be a great white shark up to 3 metres (10 feet) long.

“He started laying into the shark because it wouldn’t let go. He saved her life… He was really incredible,” Jed Toohey told the Daily Telegraph.

Mark Rapley, the woman’s husband, downplayed his efforts, saying he only “did what anyone would have done in that moment”.

Australia has one of the world’s highest incidences of shark attacks and there have been 5 fatal attacks so far this year.

In July, a shark pulled a 10 year old boy from a fishing boat off Tasmania. The boy survived after his father jumped in the water to save him.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post | Deccan Chronicle