A Briton on holiday in Australia grabbed a shark by its tail and tried to drag it away from people playing at the edge of the sea.

The man, named as Paul Marshallsea, was on a beach north of Brisbane in Queensland when a siren was sounded to warn of a shark in the water.

Marshallsea, 62, a grandfather from Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales, ran to the shoreline and grabbed the shark by the tail.

The incident was captured by a local news crew, and footage shown on Sky News showed him wrestling the fish and trying to guide it towards deeper water.

But as the shark thrashed to free itself, Marshallsea fell into the waves and the creature turned and snapped its jaws inches from his leg.

Marshallsea said: "It just missed me with a bite, which was a fraction away from my leg. A shark that one minute ago was so docile now just nearly took my leg off."

Marshallsea, who was helped by another man, said his "instincts took over" when he saw a number of young children in the water, the Daily Mirror said. "It's shallow for about six yards where the shark was and a lot of babies and toddlers splash about there," he said.

Three words.

'Balls of steel'

Three words.
'Balls of steel'

or...

Lack of self-preservation instinct

Yes so easily could have been a Darwin!

Even if the worst had happened to him, I wouldn't classit as that. He was trying to save somebody else, it wasn't an act of stupidity.

I think some might consider it stupid, no matter how brave and selfless it was.

There's a very fine line between bravery & stupidity

The video shows two men aiding a near-beached shark out to sea. No kids in peril. No Jaws-esque terror. None. What a non-story.