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Hero grandpa fired: A U.K. grandfather described as a hero for wrestling a shark away from beach-goers was fired from his job, it was reported.
A grandfather who saved children from a shark attack on an Australian beach was reportedly fired from his job after his employers discovered he was on vacation while he was on sick leave.
Paul Marshallsea, of the United Kingdom, was recorded pulling a six-foot shark away from people at Caloundra beach near Brisbane two months ago. The footage became somewhat of an Internet sensation after it was posted to YouTube.
Pant and Dowlais Boys & Girls Club, his employer, saw the video and fired him, according to AFP. When Marshallsea and his wife Wendy, who also worked at the charity, came back home to Merthyr Tydfil, they found letters saying they were fired.
“Where do I now get a job? There’s not much call for shark wrestlers in Merthyr Tydfil,” he said, according to the news agency.
Marshallsea said he went on vacation at the behest of a doctor, who told them they should go to cope with stress.
“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 added. “You think being in charge and running a children’s charity, they would have tapped me on the back.”
After the shark incident, he was praised by lifeguards.
“Where this shark actually came ashore, it’s shallow for about five or six yards, and a lot of babies and toddlers splash about there. It could have been very nasty,” Marshallsea said at the time, according to the Herald Sun newspaper.
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