'Hero' surfer picks up beached shark and carries it back to the water

2023-01-01

Insane moment ‘hero’ surfer picks up a beached shark and carries the man-eater back to the water

Man risked his life by picking up stranded shark and carrying it back to the water
The surfer thought the shark might be disorientated or sick and wanted to help
Deadly creature violently thrashed around in his arms as he picked it up

A surfer is being hailed a hero for risking his life by picking up a stranded shark and carrying it back to the water, in a bizarre incident filmed by a fellow beachgoer.

Initially, Paul Myles tried prodding the predator with his surfboard to get it back to deeper water safely at a beach in Eastern View on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.

But knowing time may have been running out for the animal, Mr Myles made the very brave decision to carry the shark into the surf, as the deadly creature violently thrashed around in his arms.

Surfer Paul Myles (pictured) made the very brave decision to pick up a stranded shark and carry the creature back into the surf

‘I just thought I’d give it a chance, I wasn’t sure if it was just disorientated or sick or whatever,’ Mr Myles told the ABC on Saturday.

‘I thought I’d get it out in the water a bit further out, see if it would swim out to sea but it didn’t seem too well.’

Mr Myles said he thought it was a blue shark, weighing around 20kgs.

In his more than four decades of surfing at Eastern View he has rarely seen sharks and never one that close to the beach.

‘I once saw one off the rocks about 20 years ago but that’s enough I think,’ he said.

The larrikin joked that he’s really just a ‘big softie’ and that he hopes his good deed has earned him some ‘brownie points’ next time a shark swims past while he’s out catching a wave.

Paul Myles is pictured picking up the beached shark, in a move he hopes will earn him ‘brownie points’ in any future shark encounters

The close encounter that could have gone horribly wrong has done nothing to put him off getting back in ocean, with Mr Myles heading out for a new year surf on Sunday.

His actions have been widely praised on social media.

‘What a hero! Thank you for showing kindness,’ one wrote, while another called him ‘a legend’.

Echoing his own hopes for good karma from the experience, one person wrote he would get ‘brownie points with Mother Ocean, safe waves my friend’.

Another well wisher simply said ‘Wow what a great human being.’

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