Surfer punches shark to save his wife
A SURFER was rescued from a shark attack by her husband – after he jumped on the beast’s back and punched it repeatedly.
Chantelle Doyle, 35, was surfing with her husband, Mark Rapley, at Shelly Beach in the Australian resort of Port Macquarie, New South Wales, yesterday morning when she was mauled by the 10ft juvenile great white.
It attacked her right calf and the back of her thigh before Mr Rapley leapt on it and forced it off her. Witness Jed Toohey described hearing a blood-curdling scream from Ms Doyle, who was sitting on her surfboard in shallow water. ‘It was unbelievable,’ he said. ‘The scream was incredible and there was splashing everywhere.
‘He saved her life. It would have been strong enough to take her out to sea. He was really incredible. Chantelle kept saying, “I’m OK” – she was so calm and relaxed.’
Bystanders rushed to the pair’s aid and a tourniquet was applied to Ms Doyle’s leg to stop the bleeding. The mother of one was then airlifted to hospital for surgery.
Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce described Mr Rapley’s quick thinking and actions as ‘pretty full on, really heroic’, adding: ‘We’ve had some really serious and tragic shark encounters over the past couple of months along that coastline so to paddle out of your own safety zone and into an area where you know there is a large shark, I think is amazing... a tremendous act of bravery.’
Beaches in Port Macquarie were closed as authorities attempted to track the shark. There have been five fatal shark attacks in Australian waters this year, higher than the annual average of three.