--- description: A tiger shark clamped down on a Hawaiian fisherman's leg Wednesday. He fought it off by punching it in the nose. title: Man Fights Off Shark By Punching It in the Face image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c9a59c20f67064e/6988652e428a9e2048ccf4aa/braxton-rocha.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Fights Off Shark By Punching It in the Face  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2015 2:49 PM CUT  In this frame from video provided by Braxton Rocha, Rocha films himself after being bit by a large tiger shark off the coast of Hawaii’s Big Island, Sept. 20, 2015 In this frame from video provided by Braxton Rocha, Rocha films himself after being bit by a large tiger shark off the coast of Hawaii’s Big Island, Sept. 20, 2015Braxton Rocha—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2015 2:49 PM CUT A Hawaiian fisherman fought off a shark by punching it in the nose. Braxton Rocha, 27, [told the Associated Press](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/hawaii-shark-attack-survivor-punched-shark-bit-leg-33992502 "undefined") Wednesday that a tiger shark clamped down on his leg while he was spearfishing about 60 yards off the Big Island last weekend. “She was jaws wide open, right in front of my face,” he said of encountering the shark. “Once she locked on my leg … I cocked back, I punched her in the nose. She let go and she swam away.” Rocha was able to swim to shore, although he was bleeding profusely. “I started making some strokes in after I punched her and that’s when the blood just started gushing everywhere in the water, and I was like, this is not good,” he said. “I started getting scared because I thought she was going to come back in for more.” Rocha’s friend drove him into town to call an ambulance, and he was airlifted to a hospital. Doctors say that Rocha will make a full recovery after the wounds in his leg heal. He needed three hours of surgery and 100 staples. \[[_AP_](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/hawaii-shark-attack-survivor-punched-shark-bit-leg-33992502 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4048141/man-punches-tiger-shark/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4048141/man-punches-tiger-shark/"},"headline":"Man Fights Off Shark By Punching It in the Face","datePublished":"2015-09-24T14:49:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:14:03.795Z","description":"\"I was like, this is not good\"","url":"https://time.com/4048141/man-punches-tiger-shark/","keywords":["animals","Sharks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c9a59c20f67064e/6988652e428a9e2048ccf4aa/braxton-rocha.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c9a59c20f67064e/6988652e428a9e2048ccf4aa/braxton-rocha.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Big Island Shark Attack Interview","caption":"Big Island Shark Attack Interview","creditText":"Braxton Rocha—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4048141/man-punches-tiger-shark/","name":"Man Fights Off Shark By Punching It in the Face"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: Could We Be Aliens?","description":"TIME explains the tantalizing evidence that suggests life on Earth may have been seeded from other planets","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/klUn8B3a/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-10-12T21:29:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/klUn8B3a.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4048141/man-punches-tiger-shark/","duration":"PT2M48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4048141/man-punches-tiger-shark/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```