British tourist wrestles Australian shark

Published on 21/01/2013 10:03

A BRITISH man on holiday in Australia grabbed a shark by its tail and tried to drag it away from people playing at the edge of the sea.

• Welshman Paul Marshallsea was holidaying in in Queensland

• A siren sounded to warn of a shark in the water, which prompted Mr Marshallsea to try and wrestle the fish into deeper waters

The man, named as grandfather Paul Marshallsea, was on a beach north of Brisbane in Queensland when a siren was sounded to warn of shark in the water.

Mr Marshallsea, 62, from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, ran to the shoreline and grabbed the shark by the tail.

The incident was captured by a local news crew, and TV footage shows him wrestling the fish in the shallows and trying to guide it towards deeper water.

But as the shark thrashed to free itself, Mr Marshallsea fell into the waves, and the creature turned and snapped its jaws just inches from his leg.

Mr Marshallsea said: “It just missed me with a bite, which was a fraction away from my leg. A shark that one minute ago was so docile now just nearly took my leg off.”