The effort was desperate.
A great white shark is far more powerful in the water than a human being.
Its muscular body allows it to move and change direction with tremendous force.
A person caught in its jaws cannot depend on strength alone to overpower it.
Leeanne's punches were an attempt to interrupt the attack.
But the shark continued holding her.
The situation became increasingly dangerous as she remained submerged.
The injury to her thigh was already severe.
The longer she remained underwater, the greater the danger from the lack of air.
Her boyfriend was nearby, but the attack had pulled her away from immediate assistance.
In the murky water, finding a person who has disappeared beneath the surface can be difficult.
Movement, suspended particles, and limited visibility can make it hard to determine exactly where someone has gone.
Leeanne could not rely on Dusty reaching her before the shark released its grip.
She needed to create an opportunity to escape.
The animal was still holding her leg.
Punching had not immediately stopped the attack.
She needed another way to make the shark let go.
Then she turned to one of the few vulnerable areas she could reach.
Its eye.
Leeanne moved her hand toward the shark's head.
Instead of continuing to strike its body, she used her fingers to attack the eye directly.
It was an extraordinary act of resistance under extreme circumstances.
She was injured, submerged, and physically restrained by a powerful predator.
But she was still fighting.
Chapter 4: The Desperate Fight for the Shark's Eye
Leeanne's decision to target the shark's eye became the defining moment of her survival.
According to her account, she repeatedly punched the animal before using her fingers to gouge its eye.
The action placed her hand dangerously close to the shark's head and jaws.
But the animal was already holding her leg.
She had little opportunity to create distance.
The eye is a sensitive structure, and direct contact can provoke a defensive reaction in many animals.
In a shark encounter, however, there is no guarantee that striking or touching the eye will produce a particular response.
The effectiveness of any defensive action depends on the circumstances.
Leeanne was not following a carefully rehearsed rescue plan.
She was responding to an immediate threat while trapped underwater.
Her punches had not freed her.
The shark continued pulling.
She reached toward its eye and pressed her fingers into it.
Then, according to her account, the animal finally released her.
The exact physical mechanism that caused the shark to let go cannot be independently determined from her description alone.