Keith Sweat has been asking people "How Deep Is Your Love" since 1987 and now one Australiansurfer finally has an answer.
35-year-old Chantelle Doyle was surfing north of Sydney, Australia with her husband on Saturday when she was bitten by a 9-foot long, juvenile Great White Shark in the leg. Her husband, Mark Rapley, saw that the shark had latched on to her leg and decided the best way to respond is to meet fire with fire.
Rapley reportedly dived into the water, landed on the shark, and punched it in the head several times to get the predator to let go of his wife. He and other surfers then helped Doyle back to the beach where she was treated for her wounds before being airlifted to a nearby hospital.
"I did what anyone would have done," Rapley told the Sunday Telegraph. "The shark was latched on to her leg. I just jumped into the water."
CEO of Surf Life Saving New South Wales, Steven Pearce, also recounted Rapley's heroics to the Sydney Morning Herald.
"This fella paddled over and jumped off his board onto the shark and hit it to get it to release her — and then assisted her back into the beach," Pearce said. "Pretty full on. Really heroic."
As paramedics were working on the woman from the beach, witnesses could see the shark leaping in the water with her surfboard still in its mouth. The attack was the third in the area in just two months leading to several beaches in the area closing immediately. Per Huffington Post, they will remain closed for at least 24 hours.
