Man bitten by shark survives attack after punching it in the face

Patrick Thornton managed to escape after repeatedly punching the shark

A man has survived a shark attack after punching the animal in the face.

Patrick Thornton was swimming the sea in North Carolina when he was attacked by the shark on Friday morning.

The 47-year-old has told The Virginian-Pilot he suddenly felt a tug at his ankle and looked down to see blood in the water and a five foot shark circling below him.

When the shark then latched on to his back, Thornton says he punched it in the head and side three times before it let go.

Mr Thornton said three more sharks were then attracted to the scene by the blood from his wounds.

Mr Thornton said he was then forced to hit the shark again with his elbow after it sunk its teeth into his back.

He was eventually airlifted to hospital and is now recovering from his injuries.

The dramatic escape was one of a spate of shark attacks in North Carolina in the last month. Since the incident took place on Friday, two more attacks have reportedly occurred.

On Saturday, a teenage boy was bitten on his buttocks by a shark and remains in a serious condition in hospital. Yesterday, a woman was injured in what is believed to have been the seventh shark attack to take place in the area this month. None of the attacks have been fatal.

Expert opinion remains divided as to what is causing the uncommonly high rate of shark attacks in the North Carolina area.

One marine biologist told The Washington Post that they believe it could be due to higher numbers of turtles swimming inland to lay eggs, prompting sharks to travel closer to the coast in pursuit of food.

Last week a man captured on video his near miss with a great white shark whilst surfing in Australia. The surfer managed to emerge from the nerve-wrecking scene unharmed and captured footage of the incredible encounter on a Go-Pro camera.