A bull shark in the Bahamas – public domain

From Australia comes the story of a shark attack victim surviving to thank the man who saved her, face to face.

Blake Donaldson was enjoying Gunyah Beach in Bundeena, Australia, with his partner when he heard a shriek from 30 feet beyond the water’s edge.

Standing stock still in a pocket of red was 57-year-old Mangyon Zhang, though Donaldson couldn’t see it at the time.

A bull shark, one of three species that account for the majority of serious bites worldwide, had nibbled around 15 inches of Zhang’s leg, and though that would end up being the extent of the damage, she was “so scared.”

“I was so scared. I said, ‘Oh, what’s that?’ ” Zhang told 60 Minutes Australia. “And then I just saw… lots and lots of blood coming out, and the water just became too red and red and red. I was so scared by then.”

She didn’t want to alert the shark, and so she screamed for help to Donaldson, who was the only other person on the beach that day.

“I just [had] to jump in,” Donaldson told 60 Minutes. “The fight or flight kicks in, and I just made the decision, sure there could be a shark but my reaction was, ‘I just have to save this woman.’”

He succeeded, and once back on shore, Eileen Melchert, Blake’s partner, administered first aid. Paramedics would later describe Zhang as having lost a “catastrophic amount of blood,” and her consciousness did not hold up during the trip to the hospital as she passed through a field of “colors” thinking about her own loved ones.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Shark Attack App Uses AI to Forecast and Detect Risk for Swimmers at 89% Accuracy

But the bite was not fatal, and Zhang woke up to find that the surgeons had also saved her leg. While it’s difficult to know exactly how big the shark would have been just from the 15-inch scar, bull sharks have the most bite force in terms of pounds of pressure per square inch of any shark alive today.

MORE SHARK ATTACK SURVIVORS: After a Shark Attack Doctors Found a Tooth in His Arm–He Now Wears it as an Earring ‘Trophy’

After a month of recovery, Zhang and Donaldson were able to meet face-to-face through 60 Minutes. One is perhaps able to imagine the gratitude that the former lavished on the latter, who accepted, albeit reticently, that he was, perhaps, a hero.

19 of those 60 minutes were released by the series on YouTube, which you can watch below…

SHARE This Incredible Story Of Survival