‘Shark wrestler’ who saved children on beach sacked from charity role
Briton Paul Marshallsea, 62, waded in and grabbed the 1.8m shark by the tail amid fears it would attack paddling children.
The charity worker, from Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales, claims he risked his life at the beach outside Brisbane in January, when he was hailed a hero.
A local news crew caught his intervention on camera and his exploits were beamed around the world.
But also watching were trustees of the Pant and Dowlais Boys & Girls Club, a children’s charity for which he worked — he had been away on work-related stress since April 2012.
His wife Wendy, 56, also worked for the charity and was off ill at the time. The couple travelled to see friends in Australia.
He hit back yesterday, saying he was “disgusted” by how he was treated.
He added he took the holiday with his wife on the advice of his GP.
“If I hadn’t gone in to save the kids on that beach that day, my wife and I would still have a job,” he told WalesOnline. “You think being in charge and running a children’s charity, they would have tapped me on the back.
“Where do I now get a job? There’s not much call for shark wrestlers in Merthyr Tydfil.”
Marshallsea worked as project co-ordinator at Dowlais Engine House, and his wife was a senior youth worker.
The letter he received read: “Whilst unfit to work, you were well enough to travel to Australia and, according to recent news footage of yourself in Queensland, you allegedly grabbed a shark by the tail and narrowly missed being bitten by quickly jumping out of the way.
“The breakdown of the trustees’ confidence and trust in you and your ability to perform the role is so great that we find that dismissal is the only course of action we can recommend.”
