WA surfer survived Margaret River shark attack by ’punching its head

A man who survived a shark attack in Western Australia’s south-west last week said he jumped on the predator’s back and punched it before he desperately paddled the 600 metres into shore.

The attack occurred when Jack Frost, 24, was surfing at a popular spot off the coast of Margaret River on the morning of July 24.

Speaking to Swellnet, Frost said the conditions had been terrible, and that he had been sitting on his board waiting for a better wave when he was forcibly knocked off by what was later identified as a great white shark.

“It’s hit me, and I’ve done a kind of backflip off my board. Landed in the water and as I’ve surfaced, I’m thinking, ‘what the f— was that?’,” he said.

“It just nicked my leg. When I say ‘nicked’ I’ve still got a good gash on my leg and a couple puncture wounds a bit higher, but nothing crazy, nothing like what it could’ve been.”

Frost said he wanted to put up a fight, and as the estimated 3.5 metre shark came back towards him, he started hitting it on its head.

“That doesn’t really do much, it didn’t even flinch. But then I started punching it in the side towards the gills and I must have got one punch in where it’s touch sensitive and it just shot down into the depths,” he said.

“It went quiet and then I got back on my board … the water was so green, and then I’ve just realised that I had to paddle, and obviously it’s a pretty big paddle too.

“I was just saying to myself, ‘you’re going to be all right, you’re going to survive.’ Just doing what I could to try and keep calm.”