A 35-year-old women was left injured after a shark attack at Port Macquarie in Australia.
According to the Guardian, Chantelle Doyle, was attacked by the 2 to 3 metre juvenile great white shark at Shelly Beach on Saturday morning.
She was surfing with friends around 9 a.m, 15 metres from the shore, when the shark took hold of her leg. Her husband jumped off his surfboard and grabed the shark’s back, punching it repeatedly until it let go.
Mark Rapley put his life at risk to rescue his partner: “The shark was latched on to her leg. I just jumped into the water,” he said.
A witness commented: “If he hadn’t put his own life at risk, [the shark] would have been strong enough to take her out to sea.”
After this tragic attack, the woman was taken to Port Macquarie Hospital with lower leg injuries. Her condition is described as stable.
Steven Pearce, CEO of Surf Life Saving NSW, described Rapley’s action as a “tremendous act of bravery:
“We’ve had some really serious and tragic shark encounters over the past couple of months along the NSW coastline so to paddle out of your own safety zone, in to an area where you know there is a large shark, I think is amazing.”
Inspector Beverley, of NSW Ambulance, said: “It is the third serious shark attack on the mid north cost in last two months.”
