A great white shark trying to make a meal out of an Australian woman ended up getting a knuckle sandwich instead.

The incident occurred over the weekend off the coast of Port Macquarie, about four miles north of Sydney, according to authorities. Chantelle Doyle, 35, was surfing when a shark bit her twice — refusing to let go of her leg the second time. Seeing that she was in danger, Doyle’s husband, Mark Rapley, paddled out to her and intervened, punching the great white in the face. It released Doyle and swam off, says Surf Life Saving chief executive Steven Pearce. “To paddle out of your own safety zone, into an area where you know there is a large shark, I think is amazing; a tremendous act of bravery,” Pearce says.

Doyle was airlifted a hospital, where she underwent more than nine hours of surgery to repair the severed nerves in her leg, paramedics say. “He saved her life,” witness Jed Toohey says of Rapley’s feat. “He was really incredible.”

Source: https://www.gentside.co.uk/shark/australian-surfer-punches-a-shark-to-save-his-wifes-life_art5933.html