Mick Fanning’s mother has described how her terror turned into overwhelming relief as she watched her son fight off a huge shark at the J-Bay Open surf competition in South Africa.
Elizabeth Osborne was watching the competition live on TV when a large shark stalked and then attacked her champion surfer son, who was in shock after his near-death experience.
Shedding tears, Ms Osborne told the ABC that her late son Sean, who died in a car crash almost 17 years ago, was watching over his brother.
“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen happen to any of my family because it was just there in front of me,” she said.
“When Sean was killed in the car accident, I didn’t see it. I saw this just in front of me. It was just terrible.” Ms Osborne described the moment she watched the shark’s fin surface behind her son, and the agony of watching him fight for his life.
“We always say in our family, ‘we never give up and we never give in’. And he didn’t. He’s such a fighter,” she said.
“I’m just so thankful and so proud of Mick and so grateful to the universe that he didn’t have a leg missing.”
Fanning said he may not compete again. After being rescued from the water in the wake of the dramatic attack during which he punched and wrestled the large shark, a shaken Fanning teared up, confessing: “I’m happy to not ever compete again.”
Fanning was in the final with fellow Australian Julian Wilson when the drama began. Live video footage of the World Surf League event shows Fanning being pushed from his board after the appearance of an enormous fin behind him.
When it became clear that the situation was serious, the cameras panned to a wide shot and for tense minutes, with Fanning lost to view, there were grave fears for the three-time world champion. What the cameras couldn’t show was the surfer punching and wrestling the shark.
After being pulled safely onto a jetski with no damage, apart from a severed leg rope, Fanning described the dramatic moments when the shark struck.
“I was just sitting there and I felt something grab or get stuck in my leg rope and I instantly just jumped away,” he said. “It just kept coming at my board and I was kicking and screaming. I just saw fins, I didn’t see any teeth. I was waiting for the teeth to come at me as I was swimming. I punched it in the back.”
He said the frightening attack happened when he was “just cruising.”
“All of a sudden I had this instinct that something was behind me. I started getting pulled underwater and then the thing came up and I was on my board and it was right there. I saw the whole thing thrashing around but I was getting dragged under by my legrope. I felt like it kicked me off but it was still there going and I was still attached to my board. I felt like I punched it a couple of times and then it was dragging me and then my leg rope broke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnRlL6Okc7U
“I started swimming and screaming and yelling at Jules to move as well, but he was coming at me. What a legend, coming after me. I was swimming in and I turned around and I had this thought, what happens if it comes to have another go at me, so I turned around so I could at least see it coming. Before I knew it the boat was there, the jet skis were there and we were in safely. I just can’t believe it.”
An emotional Wilson said he thought Fanning hadn’t survived the attack when he disappeared from view.
“I saw the whole thing pop up behind him. It came up and he was wrestling it. I saw him get knocked off his board and then a wave popped up and I thought, ‘He’s gone’. I felt like I couldn’t get there quick enough. The results don’t mean anything to me, I’m just happy he’s alive. I literally thought when I was paddling for him that I wasn’t going to get there in time, especially when I saw him off his board and swimming away. I thought it was going to grab him and take him under. I’m so happy we’re both on the beach right now, I was so worried about Mick’s life.”
Both surfers were transferred to the safety boat, which had been stationed adjacent to the break throughout the contest in the case of just such an incident.
Interviewed by commentatory Peter Mel immediately afterwards, Fanning said, “I was just sitting there. I felt something get stuck in my legrope. I instantly jumped and it kept coming at my board.
“I just saw a fin. I didn’t see teeth. I was just waiting for the teeth to come at me!”
Asked by commentator Peter Mel if he took a swing, Fanning said, “I punched it in the back.”
The final was cancelled, and the two surfers shared the prize money and world-title points.
This is the first time a pro contest has been put on hold because of a shark attack, but not the first time a shark has frightened competitors.
At the same event in 2007, Australian Mick Lowe saw what he thought was a great white. “I saw a shark,” he said at the time. “It did a U-turn, and it was no dolphin.”
In 2003, Australian Taj Burrow cut a heat short at Jeffreys Bay when he saw a monster shark swim under his board.
On both occasions, the contest went ahead, without incident.
In October 2013, a man was attacked and killed by a shark while snorkelling close to the shore at Jeffreys Bay. And in June last year, the line-up at Jeffreys Bay was cleared when a 2m shark was spotted swimming between two of the 50 surfers in the water.
On that occasion, the first person to paddle back out was South African pro surfer Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who recently told The Australian that great whites were endangered, and not the problem. “More people in the water and humans fishing out the sharks’ food supply is the problem,” he said.
This is the first time a pro contest has been cancelled by a shark attack, but not the first time a shark has frightened competitors.
At the same event in 2007, Australian Mick Lowe saw what he thought was a great white. “I saw a shark,” he said at the time. “It did a U-turn, and it was no dolphin.”
In 2003, Australian Taj Burrow cut a heat short at Jeffreys Bay when he saw a monster shark swim under his board.
On both occasions, the contest went ahead, without incident.
In October 2013, a man was attacked and killed by a shark while snorkelling close to the shore at Jeffreys Bay. And in June last year, the line-up at Jeffreys Bay was cleared when a 2m shark was spotted swimming between two of the 50 surfers in the water.
On that occasion, the first person to paddle back out was South African pro surfer Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who recently told The Australian that great whites were endangered, and not the problem. “More people in the water and humans fishing out the sharks’ food supply is the problem,” he said.
source:theaustralian.com.au
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