Mark Rapley battled a great white shark to save his wife’s life Aug. 15 in New South Wales.
They were surfing at Shelly Beach around 9:30 a.m. when his wife, Chantelle Doyle, was attacked by a 10-foot white shark while sitting on her board in shallow surf.
“It hit her with a force and threw her off the board,” Rapley told 9News. He immediately sprang into action and swam toward his wife.
“When you see the mother of your child and your support, everything you are, you just react,” he said.
Once he arrived at his wife’s side, he saw the shark’s mouth on her right calf. His immediate response was to get the shark off her calf and he began fighting the shark.
“I was trying to leverage punches down onto it,” he said, adding that “It feels like you’re punching a brick wall.”
Jed Toohey, one witness to the attack, said Rapley put his life at risk to save his partner. “If he hadn’t put his own life at risk, [the shark] would have been strong enough to take her out to sea.”
Once the shark released its grip, Rapley assisted his 23-year-old wife to shore with the help of several locals.
With gaping wounds on her calf and thigh, Rapley said his wife was incredibly strong and paddled 16-yards back to shore.
Once the group made it back to the beach, several of the surfers carried Doyle on a long board and, at one point, slipped. Doyle joked with her rescuers that she only weighed 132 pounds and that her burley rescuers lifted more than that at the gym.
The mother of one remained calm during the ordeal, and was taken to the Port Macquarie Base Hospital before being flown to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital where she had surgery.
Witnesses said a shark was spotted swimming up and down the beach and was seen biting the empty surfboard.
The beach was closed for the day as lifesavers scoured the area with jet skis and drones to confirm if the shark was still nearby.
Several shark attacks, including two fatal incidents, have been reported recently in New South Wales.
Anika Craney, 29, was bitten on the leg in Queensland July 14.
The documentary filmmaker was swimming back to her boat from Fitzroy Island, when an estimated 6-foot-long shark grabbed her leg. She was flown to the mainland by helicopter and as she was being wheeled into the hospital, said she still loved sharks.
Mani Hart-Deville, 15, was killed by a shark in the remote Headland at Wooli Beach, north Coffs Harbour, July 11. The teen was bitten on the leg and lost a large amount of blood. Despite the effort of Good Samaritans and other surfers to save his life, he succumbed to his injuries on the beach.
Robin Pedretti, 60, was off Salt Beach June 7 when a white shark attacked. The surfer was bitten around 10 a.m. by an estimated 10-foot-long shark. Pedretti suffered severe injury to his left thigh and lower leg.
Shark attacks are a relatively small threat when compared to the number of drownings.
While shark attacks fill the headlines and are frightening, the danger many people often forget about is drowning.
Since the beginning of July six people have drowned on the New South Wales coastline. Forty-three drownings have occurred during the 2019-20 season.
Whenever possible, use beaches where lifeguards are present. Carry a first-aid kit that includes a tourniquet. If the conditions are rough, reconsider water activities. If sharks have been spotted in the area, enjoy the water from the shore.
All locations have been marked on the 2020 Shark Attack Map.
