MAN PUNCHES SHARK TO SAVE WIFE IN ATTACK

Australian man was hailed a “hero” after he jumped onto a great white shark and punched it repeatedly to save his wife whom the animal attacked on Saturday at a beach in Port Macquarie in the state of New South Wales, media and officials said.

The Sydney Morning Herald said that Chantelle Doyle, 35, was surfing with her husband at Shelly Beach when she was attacked by the 2 to 3 meter shark.

Police said the shark bit her twice on the right leg, which suffered severe lacerations.

The Herald quoted Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce as saying Doyle’s husband jumped off his surfboard and onto the shark.

“This fella paddled over and jumped off his board onto the shark and hit it to get it to release her and then assisted her back into the beach,” Pearce said. “Pretty full on, really heroic.”

‘Really incredible’

One witness who was surfing nearby when the attack occurred called the man a “hero” for taking on the shark.

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

The woman’s husband, Mark Rapley, played down his efforts, telling the newspaper he “did what anyone would have done in that moment.”

Paramedics treated the woman at the beach before she was airlifted to a major hospital for surgery.

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

Just last month, a shark pulled a 10-year-old boy from a fishing boat off Tasmania. He survived after his father jumped in the water to save him.