A TINGALPA man who saved a woman from a great white shark has received Australia's second-highest bravery award.

Trevor Burns, 50, was part of a snorkelling tour near Rockingham, Western Australia, in October 2010 when his guide, Elyse Frankcom, was attacked by a 3.7m shark.

"At first I thought it was a dolphin," Mr Burns said. "It was this grey blur that came ripping through the water like a freight train, past my left hand. Then I saw it biting into both her legs and I just screamed in my head 'get it off her'."

Mr Burns grabbed the shark's tail and was "thrown around like a rag doll" for about five seconds while Ms Frankcom, then 19, punched the shark in the head until it let go.

The burly IT consultant lost sight of the young guide but finally spotted her slowly sinking in the blood-filled water.

He dived about 8m to haul her to the surface and on to the tour boat.

His wife Julie watched from the deck as he first battled with the shark and then floated on the surface for about 15 seconds with his head under the water looking for Ms Frankcom. She then had 20 more agonising seconds as he dived to retrieve her.

"After about 15 seconds of him with his head down in the water, my immediate reaction was that he was so badly mauled that he couldn't move," Mrs Burns said.

Mr Burns' actions have won him the Australian Bravery Awards' Star of Courage, the nation's highest bravery award after the Cross of Valour.

It's his fourth citation since the incident in October 2010, but this one's special, he said.

"This is a huge honour," he said. "I am super proud because this is a national award. The ol' chest will definitely swell up."

The rescue forged a special bond between Mr Burns and Ms Frankcom, whose injuries required more than 200 stitches in her thighs, has recovered about 90 per cent of mobility.

And while Ms Frankcom refers to Mr Burns as her "hero lifesaver", the respect is mutual.

"It says a lot about her character that when she was laid down in the deck her first reaction was to get the younger ones up the front so they wouldn't be traumatised by what they saw," Mr Burns said.

"For a 19-year-old basically bleeding to death, that's absolutely amazing."

Mr Burns said he is in touch with Ms Frankcom via social media, calls regularly and always catches up with her when he's in Perth where she lives.