A shark attack survivor has opened up about the moment a great white bit into her leg while surfing and how her husband leapt into action and fought the beast off.
Chantelle Doyle, 35, a keen surfer, was on a trip to the coastal town of Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast with husband Mark in 2020.
Early on they took to the crystal clear water on a 'sunny and beautiful day' with Ms Doyle saying nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
But the idyllic setting was shattered about 9.30am when a great white shark struck 'underneath my board - it hit my leg straightaway - just bang, grab,' Ms Doyle told 60 Minutes.
The shark latched onto her calf - refusing to let go - with her thoughts immediately turning to whether anyone would be able to reach her before it dragged her under.
Ms Doyle, 35, has undergone 15 months of microsurgery and rehab (pictured) after the great white shark attack
Mark was surfing about 10m nearby and caught sight of the fin and the sharks head near her leg.
'So, I just ditched the board, to just start whaling punches... It was just, just throw as hard as I could until it lets go, because you sort of, just want it to be gone.' he said.
'[I was looking] dead-set in the eye. That memory sits with me a lot, a black eye.'
He said he aimed his punches at the sharks nose because 'it's more sensitive'.
His strategy worked with the blows causing the shark to let go and swim away and he was able to get Chantelle to shore.
Ms Doyle is now bravely back in the water again after 15 months worth of microsurgery on her leg combined with painful rehabilitation and physiotherapy.
'Muscle, bone, ligament, tendon, nerve, everything gets done,' she said.
'Most parts of my leg were injured except for my arteries. If my artery had been hit... I'm not having this conversation.'
Ms Doyle said the shark bite missed the artery in her leg which is the reason she survived (pictured)
Ms Doyle's case, while very rare, is becoming less so as shark attacks in Australia and across the world increase.
In the 1990s there were 82 recorded shark attacks in Australia, which jumped to 161 in the following decade.
From 2010 to 2020 there were 220 and in 2021 there have been 18 attacks so far with two of them confirmed as deadly.
In early November, Western Australia was rocked by a deadly great white attack.
Paul Millachip, 57, is believed to have been
