A Brit has been hailed a hero after he risked his life to drag two drowning men to safety from lethal shark-infested waters.
Allen Limbrick, 42, was bodyboarding off the Western Australian coast when a distraught woman ran up the beach to say her family were in danger.
Brave Allen grabbed his board and undeterred by Great White sharks recently spotted just metres from the shoreline he plunged into the 10m high waves.
The prison officer spent more than an hour battling to pull a man and his elderly father-in-law from the clutches of a rip tide – all the time watching for the 20 foot killer sharks.
Fearless Allen, from Gloucester, said: “The first guy was at the end of the rip. If I hadn’t got to him when I did he probably would have drowned, he had nothing left.
“He was so thankful to see me swim towards him. He was crying as I brought him back in to shore.”
“Even if I had known [about sharks in the water] it still would not have made any difference to my decision to enter the water.
“They were fully aware that they nearly lost their lives that day. I felt a warm sense of achievement and proud I had literally saved one life if not two.”
Allen – who moved to Yanchep, near Perth, seven years ago – had to swim 150 metres to reach the first man, who had entered the water when his daughter got into difficulty.
She made it to shore, but her dad got trapped and had completely run out of energy when Allen pulled him onto the board and pushed him to safety.
He then turned his attention to the elderly relative and swam 350 metres out to reach him, keeping him afloat while the inched to the shore.
His valiant rescue earlier this month came just days after a huge Great White was filmed only 20 metres from the shoreline where schools of 50 frenzied sharks are often spotted feeding on tuna.
Allen’s dad David, 72, who lives in Gloucester, said he was very proud of his son and added: “He put himself in real jeopardy facing 100-metre-high waves. He could have drowned.”
