Shark Attack Ends When Man Acts Like Ali

What would you do if a shark were biting you?

Well, one man started throwing punches.

Exactly eight years to the day of the attack, Krishna Thompson shared his story of hard-fought survival Tuesday as "The Early Show" and Discovery Channel continued their "Shark Week" partnership.

2001 was the "Summer of the Shark," when it seemed like there was an epidemic of shark attacks.

Thompson, who was celebrating his 10th anniversary in the Bahamas, went swimming in the ocean. He said he was treading water when he saw a shark fin rise out of the murky water.

Thompson said the first thing he thought of was to get out of its path. But as he began to swim toward land out of the shark's way, he said he felt the shark's body pass through his legs, grazing his inner knee. He said the shark caught his left leg between his knee and ankle.

"I heard its teeth go crunch right into my bones," he said. "And it started towing me out further into the ocean."

Thompson said he tried to shake free from the shark, but the animal pulled him under. As Thompson desperately tried to reach the surface again, the shark began shaking him "like a rag doll."

"I tried to not let any water go in my mouth or nose. And then as soon as the shark stopped, I knew it was time for me to do something."

That's when Thompson started punching the shark. He even grabbed its mouth.

"I couldn't believe it," Thompson told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "It sounds stupid, but it worked. ... I was in such a good mood. I had so much energy. I felt like I was Muhammad Ali. I gave it a combination to the nose and face, and it just swam away."

Thompson added that everything he did seemed to happen on instinct -- including when his swim ashore.

When he reached the beach, Thompson wrote his hotel room number on the sand so his wife would know what had happened. Then he passed out.

Following the attack, Thompson had part of his leg amputated. He showed Rodriguez his prosthetic. "It's great," Thompson said. "It's given me my independence. It's as close to a real leg as I'm going to get."

During the "Summer of the Shark," 50 swimmers were attacked off U.S. beaches. Fewer than 100 swimmers are attacked each year by sharks, according to Andy DeHart, a Discovery Channel shark adviser, who discussed Thompson's attack on "The Early Show."

Did Thompson do the right thing to escape the shark?

DeHart said Thompson made the right move when he punched the shark. "A lot of their sensory organs are in that nose," he said. "Generally speaking, as (Thompson) saw, they'll usually swim the opposite direction. They want to get away from that."

To avoid encounters with sharks, DeHart recommended staying away from murky water.

"The sharks lose their vision at that point. The shark might have thought his leg was a barracuda. We don't know exactly what the shark was thinking. Generally, it's a case of mistaken identity."

DeHart added people should avoid swimming at dusk and dawn, because sharks feed during those hours.