Husband punches shark after wife attacked near Port Macquarie on NSW coast

NSW man hailed a hero after jumping onto a great white and punching it until it released his wife in beach attack.

A female surfer arrives at John Hunter Hospital after being bitten by a juvenile great white shark at Shelley Beach, Port Macquarie. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

A brave husband is being hailed a hero after jumping onto a great white shark and repeatedly punching it until it released his wife during a mauling on NSW’s mid north coast on Saturday.

Witnesses have expressed astonishment at the actions of Mark Rapley when the shark grabbed wife Chantelle Doyle’s leg as she sat on her board 30 metres from shore at Shelly Beach, near Port Macquarie, about 9.30am.

“It was unbelievable, the scream was incredible and there was splashing everywhere,” witness Jed Toohey told the Daily Telegraph.

“Mark was a hero. He started laying into the shark because it wouldn’t let go.”

Surf Lifesavers search Shelly Beach where the attack happened. Picture: Lindsay Moller

Ms Doyle, 35, suffered significant injuries to her lower legs when the shark bit the woman’s right calf and the back of her thigh.

Mr Rapley managed to punch the shark until it released her from its jaws and swam away.

NSW Ambulance duty operations manager Andrew Beverley praised bystanders who rushed to the woman’s aid.

“They did an amazing job,” he said.

“The patient suffered severe lacerations to her right leg.”

Mark Rapley jumped on a shark to save wife Chantelle Doyle.

Paramedics treated the woman at the scene before transferring her to Port Macquarie Hospital.

She was later flown to Newcastle Hospital for surgery in a stable condition.

The shark has been estimated at between two to three metres long.

Mr Beverley said this was the third serious shark attack on the north coast in recent months.

There have already been a handful of fatal shark attacks in Australian waters this year.

Fifteen-year-old Mani Hart-Deville died in July when he was attacked by a shark while surfing at Wilsons Headland at Wooli Beach in NSW.

In January, 57-year-old diver Gary Johnson was killed at Cull Island, near West Beach in Esperance, Western Australia.

Beaches in the area were closed yesterday.