He was hailed a hero by the British press, but a pensioner who grappled with a shark in Queensland has been sacked after it emerged he was on sick leave with stress.
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Paul Marshallsea, 62, waded in to the surf and grabbed the two-metre shark by the tail amid fears it would attack paddling children.
The charity worker, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, claims he risked his life at the beach at Caloundra, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, in January when he was hailed a hero.
''Where this shark actually came ashore, it is shallow for about five or six yards, and a lot of babies and toddlers splash about there - it could have been very nasty,'' he later told the BBC.
''My instincts took over and I just grabbed the shark by the tail.''
After Channel Nine news caught his intervention on camera, his exploits were beamed around the world, although experts at the time pointed out the shark was unwell and likely dying.
Watching the footage were trustees of the Pant and Dowlais Boys and Girls Club, a children's charity for which he worked - he had been away on work-related stress since last April.
The grandfather and his wife Wendy, 56, who also worked for the charity and was off ill at the time, flew back to Britain to letters informing them they were sacked.
He hit back on Wednesday saying he was ''disgusted'' by the way he had been treated.
He claims that, as he had saved the lives of children, he should have received a pat on the back. He said he took the holiday with his wife on the advice of his GP.
PA
