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 paddled the 600 metres into shore.

The attack occurred when Jack Frost, 24, was surfing at the popular ‘boat ramp’ spot off Gnarabup Beach in Margaret River on the morning of July 24.

Speaking to Swellnet, Frost said he had been sitting on his board waiting for a 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 told Swellnet.

“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.”