![A British surfer survived a shark attack by punching it in the face. [Image credit: Guardian News/Youtube screencap]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/11/13/660x290/b_502x220x82/a-british-surfer-survived-a-shark-attack-by-punching-it-in-the-face-image-credit-guardian-newsyoutube_1688479.jpg "A British surfer survived a shark attack by punching it in the face. [Image credit: Guardian News/Youtube screencap]")
A British doctor was surfing with four friends on Monday around 100 feet off the coast of New South Wales in Australia. He suddenly spotted a Shark, which loomed out of the water towards him, and saved himself by punching it in the face. While he received minor injuries, he survived the experience pretty much intact, thanks to a pro tip he got on YouTube.
Man punches shark and survives the experience
The Washington Post quotes Charlie Fry, 25, as saying while he was panicking he recalled a YouTube Video about Mick Fanning, a professional Australian surfer, who escaped an attack from a Great White Shark in South Africa in 2015.
At the time, Fanning told the media he had punched the shark when it attacked him while competing in a surfing competition in Jeffrey’s Bay.
Fry said as soon as he saw the shark’s head, teeth and all, coming out of the water, he thought he was about to die, but remembering Fanning’s move, he just punched its face. He then climbed back onto his board, while shouting at his friends, and caught the next wave back to the beach. Fry was lucky to only receive bite marks on his arm and shoulder and said at first, he didn’t know he had been hurt in the incident. Fry said he didn’t feel the shark’s teeth going in and that he felt like he had been smacked, like being hit with a hand.
British doctor who fended off shark with a punch says he ‘owes Mick Fanning a beer’ https://t.co/2P1cUiedge pic.twitter.com/1uquRXkrVT
— news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) November 13, 2017
According to Fry, it was the pure adrenaline that got him back to the shore, as he really believed he was going to be eaten by the shark.
Two of Fry’s friends are also doctors and gave him emergency treatment before taking him to a local hospital. Due to their profession, Fry said they were very calm and helpful.
Surfer thought the shark was around five or six feet
When asked the size of the shark, Fry said he didn’t really get a good look at it, but he thought it was around five or six feet, or maybe less.
However he said at the time it felt big to him, adding the head looked really big that close up. However, 9News reports that an almost 10-foot shark was found in the surf zone near Avoca, shortly after the attack.
Fry is living and working in Australia as a doctor at a hospital in Wyong and has only been surfing for a month or two.
He said when he phoned his parents, his mother laughed, probably out of shock, but his father was more worried about him. He did say his brother found the situation quite funny. The brother asked Fry if he was thinking of them at the time, and he said no, he was just thinking about how not to die.
Fry says he knows he was lucky to escape the shark attack with only minor injuries, as the shark could easily have taken his hand. When asked if he would still surf, he said he would be back in the water “fairly soon.” Fry sounds braver than Fanning, who tells his story in the video included below.
