A British tourist helped save the day when he grabbed a shark by its tail and dragged it away from several children in the shallow waters off a beach in Australia. The man helped save the shark and the children and the whole ordeal was caught on video.
Paul Marshallsea, 62, was enjoying a barbecue near the beach when he spotted a commotion near the shore as a six-foot dusky whaler shark was thrashing around the shallow waters. He noticed the animal was getting too close to young kids so he ran up to it, grabbed it by its tail and attempted to throw it back out into deeper water.
"Where this shark actually came ashore, it's shallow for about five or six yards, and a lot of babies and toddlers splash about there. It could have been very nasty," Marshallsea told the Daily Mail. "My instincts took over and I just grabbed the shark by the tail."
praised by the coastguard after he rushed from a beach-side barbecue to keep the children safe. The encounter was caught on camera by a nearby TV crew.
The grandfather from South Wales had a close call when the shark tried to snap back and bite him.
"The shark nearly took my leg off in a split second, it was that quick," Marshallsea told the Daily Mail. He was praised by the Coast Guard for his efforts.
"We don't recommend manhandling sharks but this gentleman did a great job," a Coast Guard spokesman told the Mirror.
Marshallsea didn't just act to save the kids from the shark. A shark that close to shore was likely sick, so he was trying to help the animal get back into deeper waters.
"I know it was dangerous but it almost looked beautiful - you have got to have respect for a beautiful animal. People might say it was a stupid thing to do, but when you see a beautiful beast struggling to survive up close and personal you somehow tend to respect it and want to help it," Marhsallsea recalled. "I got hold of his tail and pulled with all my might to get the shark back into deep enough water, so that the poor thing could survive."
"Her two-feet-long babies were swimming through my legs. They must have got lost and marooned by the shallow sand-banks and got beached," he continued.
A TV crew happened to be nearby when the incident took place on Bulcock Beach in Australia. They caught Marhsallsea's efforts on video.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
