When Shark Came, Surfer Remembered a Trick

A novice surfer mastered a pro's move on the first try: He punched a shark on the nose to escape its jaws, per the AP. The attack Monday afternoon off the Australian coast left Charlie Fry with superficial puncture wounds on his right shoulder and upper arm. Fry, a British doctor who arrived in Australia two months ago to work, said he'd recently watched a video in which Australian professional surfer Mick Fanning described his famous escape from a great white shark during a surfing competition in 2015. "So when it happened, I was like: 'Just do what Mick did. Just punch it in the nose,'" Fry told Nine Network television. "So Mick, if you're watching or listening, I owe you a beer. Thank you very much."

Fry, 25 and a surfing beginner, was in the water with three doctor friends when he was attacked off Avoca Beach, 60 miles north of Sydney. "I was out surfing and I got this massive thud on my right-hand side; it completely blindsided me," Fry said. He thought a friend was goofing around, until he saw the shark's head. "So I just punched it in the face with my left hand and then managed to scramble back on my board, shout at me friends and luckily a wave came, so I just sort of surfed the wave in." Fry said he wasn't conscious of his injured and bleeding arm until he reached the shore. He hopes to be back in the water in about a week.

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