Australian grandmother fights off deadly shark by punching it on the nose

A woman who was attacked by a shark in the Whitsundays in north Queensland on Saturday has spoken of her fight for survival.

Sydney resident Paddy Trumbull, 60, is in a stable condition in the Mackay Base Hospital with injuries to her buttocks and legs. Witnesses told authorities they saw the shark pull Ms Trumbull under the water and she lost a large amount of blood.

Hamilton Island spokeswoman Susan Boyd says a medical crew stabilised Ms Trumbull before a rescue helicopter took her to the Mackay Base Hospital.



Ms Trumbull said she was swimming near Dent Island when she was attacked by what may have been a reef shark or a bronze whaler. "I then thought, 'this shark isn't going to get the better of me' and I began punching it on the nose," she said.

"It got me under the water but not much because I started kicking at its neck and I came back up again and I'm punching its nose again, punching, punching, punching." The grandmother and mother-of-five says thinking of her family kept her alive.

"He was huge, he was at least two metres but his nose was so hard, I could see the teeth, glaring, but I'm not seriously panicking, all I'm thinking is of surviving," she said. Doctors treating Ms Trumbull say they are amazed she survived the attack.