A surfer in Australia is alive after her husband punched a large shark that was attacking her.
The attack occurred Saturday morning in the eastern Australian town of Port Macquarie. Chantelle Doyle, 35, was surfing with her husband at Shelly Beach when a great white shark thought to be up to 10 feet long grabbed a hold of her.
The husband leaped from his surfboard and began pummeling the creature until it let go. Surf Life Saving New South Wales CEO Steven Pearce mused at the feat and told the Sydney Morning Herald that the beat-down was “pretty full on, really heroic.”
“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.
Doyle suffered “severe lacerations” on her right leg and was treated by first responders before being flown to Newcastle Hospital to undergo surgery. She reportedly remains in stable condition.
Beaches in the town of Port Macquarie have been shuttered for 24 hours after the attack, and officials are hoping to track down the juvenile great white shark. Five people have died from shark attacks in Australia since 2020 began, a rise in the country’s average of three fatal attacks per year.
