A 64-year-old grandfather manhandled a shark away from people on the beach. It was caught on video and soon went viral. The man was hailed as a hero. He'd been vacationing in Australia with his wife when the shark, which experts say was probably sick, swam too close to shore. So he did what anyone would do -- or rather, what most people would NEVER do, but he did -- he pushed the shark back into open waters. Round of applause! When the man got back to Britain with his wife, the company he works for, which is a children's charity, was so impressed by his good deed that they ... fired him?!!!

Apparently the man, Paul Marshallsea, had been on sick leave from work due to stress. So when his bosses caught sight of him on a beach in Australia, they weren't too happy. They fired him and his wife, who had both worked there for 10 years, with a letter that 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.

Well, the media reports were a tad, shall we say, exaggerated. The video is below and Paul does a fine job of gently guiding the shark away from the shore, but he doesn't exactly grab it by the tail and wrestle it into submission, as many reported.

Either way, if he was on sick leave for stress, I don't understand why he couldn't take a de-stressing vacation. Was it part of his sick leave that he remain holed up in his bedroom, stressed and depressed? On the other hand, if the guy wanted a vacation, why not just ask for one? The British get tons of vacation time.

Anyway, this hardly seems like a good cause for termination. It's not like he was caught on video doing something illegal. However, it's probably best to stay away from cameras if you're somewhere you don't want your bosses to see.

Do you think he should have been fired?


Image via YouTube