Surfer escapes Hawaii shark attack by punching animal in face

A man has had a very lucky escape after surviving a shark attack in Hawaii - by punching it in the eye.

Jeff Horton, 25, had been surfing with about 10 others for about three hours at Pila'a Beach near Kilauea when the incident occurred.

He was sitting on his surfboard around 200 yards from shore waiting to catch a wave, legs hanging in the water, when he saw a large shape coming toward him.

He first thought it was a stingray, but soon realised it was a shark when it went after his leg.

Speaking to The Garden Island, Jeff said: "It came flying straight toward me." But Jeff managed to get his leg up on the board in time, and saw the shark's jaws clamp around the surf board.

The impact of the attack threw Horton off the board and onto the shark. He grabbed onto its fin, describing it as "riding" the shark, and began punching for his life.

He said: "I started punching as hard as I could. I finally got one nice punch into the eye. I put some really good hits on it, for sure."

The shark spat out the board and flung Horton a few feet into the air, after which he managed to get back on his board with the help of another surfer, and paddle back to shore, reports Sky News.

The shark followed but did not attack again.

According to news.com.au, the animal, most likely a tiger shark, was more than three metres long

Horton escaped injury, but he said the surf board now bears a neat semi-circle jaw imprint, and will now go on display on his wall. He was back surfing again just a day later.

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