Astonishing bravery of Australian surfer attacked by 12-foot Great White shark revealed, “Both of his hands were balloons from hitting it!”

"He was dragged so deep it went dark and he thought he was going to drown. He was only able to swim for the surface after his foot ripped off at the ankle."

If there is any sort of generational memory or learned behaviours among Great White sharks, the sons of bitches around Port Macquarie must surely be getting the hint. 

Three years ago, thirty-five-year-old surfer Chantelle Doyle was hit by a ten-foot White at Shelly Beach, Port Mac, only for her husband to jump off his board, climb on the shark and beat hell out of it, saving her life.

“It was unbelievable, the scream was incredible and there was splashing everywhere,” witness Jed Toohey said, “Mark, her partner, got her up on the board. Mark was a hero. He started laying into the shark because it wouldn’t let go. He saved her life. He got off his board and started punching the shark. If he hadn’t put his own life at risk, it would have been strong enough to take her out to sea.”

Now, it can be revealed, Toby Begg, the forty-four-year-old surfer who was belted by a twelve-footer one month ago in Port Macquarie, losing a foot and maybe a leg in the process, has become one of the few human beings on earth who can say they survived multiple Great White bites. 

Like Chantelle Doyle’s husband, Beggs got hands although the details certainly make for sobering reading. 

According to our source in Port Mac, Begg was dragged so far underwater it went dark and he thought he was going to drown. He was only able to swim for the surface after his foot ripped off at the ankle. 

Back on the surface, the White hit him again, Begg scrunching into a ball, which would save his life, but causing his leg to take most of the impact.

“Then he was on the surface punching it in the head for ages. Both his hands were balloons from hitting it. After 30 seconds it let go and he started paddling in. It’d severed the femoral artery in his leg and the only thing that saved him was there was a doctor and emergency room nurse walking on the beach (separately who didn’t know each other). His foot is gone and they’re saying his other leg might come off at the hip but they’re trying to save it. He’s a mad keen surfer and wants to get back in the water. After Mick Fanning called him in hospital and gave him a pep talk about how he’d bounce back he said, ‘That was nice of him, but the shark snapped his fucking leg rope… I’ve lost my foot and maybe my leg, so I dunno what he was going on about.’”