A British doctor has escaped a shark attack without major injury by punching the predator “in the face” in the waters off Sydney, Australia.
Charlie Fry, 25, was surfing with four friends 30-40m off Avoca Beach on Monday when a 2m shark “jumped out of the water and hit him in the right shoulder”, police said.
Fry suffered puncture wounds to his right shoulder, but managed to punch the shark on the nose with his left fist to fend it off, in a scene reminiscent of Mick Fanning’s fight with a shark during a South African surfing competition in 2015.
After fighting off the shark, Fry called to his friends to get out of the water and managed to catch a wave and surf back to shore. He was treated for his wounds at nearby Gosford Hospital and was quickly released.
In an interview with Channel Nine News vowed to return to the water “”fairly soon”.
According to the Australian Shark Attack File, there have been 18 shark attacks, including one fatal incident, in the waters off Australia in 2017.
