Woman escapes shark by punching it on nose off Florida coast

Heather West said: ‘Despite all of this, I want the record to show that I love sharks, and don’t want to discourage people from getting in the water.’ Photograph: Image Source/Alamy

A woman punched a 6ft shark in the face until it let go of her foot, which it bit while she snorkeled off the Dry Tortugas, islands off the coast of Florida.

Heather West, 42 and from Texas, told the Daily Mail the lemon shark “kept tugging and tugging, and I could feel its teeth in my ankle”.