Mark Byrne was surfing at Winkipop beach, near Torquay, in Australia yesterday morning when a five-foot shark latched onto his surfboard.
“It kept on thrashing, so I turned around and punched it in the back of the head,” he told News 7
The shark refused to let go.
“It didn’t move, so at that point I thought it best I get off the board. I flicked my leg off the board and waited for the shark to roll the board off and then jumped back on.” he said
Other surfers who witnessed the event quickly left the water.
“I’ve never seen people paddle so fast away from me,” he said. “I looked around and I jumped back on the board and everyone was going in the other direction.”
Undeterred the 42-year-old stayed in the water for another hour-and-a-half.
The father of five, who just had surgery for bowel cancer, seems to have luck on his side.
“At the time, when you recognize it’s a shark, I thought ‘that’s it, I’m done’,” he said. “I’m here today, so I’m pretty lucky I guess.”
He did offer one piece of advice and recommend we all enjoy everyday as if it were our last.
