Australian surfer saves wife by punching shark in New South Wales

Great White Shark. Photo / 123rf

A quick-thinking surfer punched a shark until it let go of his surfing companion while catching waves on the NSW mid-north coast.

The 35-year-old woman, reported by other media to be the surfer's wife, suffered significant injuries to her lower legs after she was mauled by the predator off Shelly Beach near Port Macquarie about 9.30am on Saturday.

The pair were surfing when the shark bit the woman's right calf and the back of her thigh.

The man managed to punch the shark until it released her from its jaws and swam away.

NSW Ambulance duty operations manager Andrew Beverley praised bystanders who rushed to the woman's aid.

The woman is in a stable condition and will undergo surgery for lacerations to her leg. Photo / Lindsay Moller, News Corp Australia

"They did an amazing job," he said.

"The patient suffered severe lacerations to her right leg."

Paramedics then treated the woman at the scene before transferring her to Port Macquarie Hospital.

She was later flown to Newcastle Hospital where she will undergo surgery.

The woman is in a stable condition.

The woman was in the water at Shelly Beach when her leg was mauled by the ocean giant. Photo / Lindsay Moller, News Corp Australia

Police and Fisheries NSW staff are now trying to identify the species involved in the attack.

Early reports suggest it may have been a juvenile white shark about two to three metres in length.

Beverley said this was the third serious shark attack on the north coast in recent months.

There have already been a handful of fatal shark attacks in Australian waters this year.

In January, 57-year-old diver Gary Johnson was killed at Cull Island, near West Beach in Esperance, Western Australia.

Fifteen-year-old Mani Hart-Deville died in July when he was attacked by a shark while surfing at Wilsons Headland at Wooli Beach in NSW.

Beaches in the area will be closed for the next 24 hours.