A man identified as Mark Rapley has saved his wife Chantelle Doyle from the attack of a white shark.
North-South Wales police said Rapley and his wife were spending the day at Shelly Beach at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, when the shark, which was described as being between 6 and 10 feet, attacked Doyle and threw her off her surfboard.
Rapley said he paddled to his wife’s board as she tried to climb back up while the shark grabbed her right calf.
He said he grabbed on to his wife’s surfboard and began punching the shark until it let her go.
“When you see the mother of your child, and your support, everything that’s who you are, so you just react.
“Your body reacts to saying get off, get off. So you start punching it, you start thinking amazingly where to punch it and so you’re like, ‘I’ll just attack the eye,’ or whatever. You just start thinking differently,” Rapley said.
After the shark released her leg, Doyle and her husband got back to shore and paramedics were on hand to administer aid. She was airlifted to a hospital and had surgery, the police said.
The beach was closed for the rest of the day while officers and fishing officials worked to get more details about the attack. metro.co.uk reports
Rapley said his wife was awake and doing better, but the family will be dealing with the fallout from the attack for a while.
