He’s known as “White Lightening” and on Sunday, 34-year-old surfing pro Mick Fanning well and truly lived up to his nickname after he came face-to-face with a ferocious great white shark at the J-Bay Open final.
Sydney-born Mick was forced to fight for his life during the competition, which is held on Jeffreys Bay on the Eastern Cape of South Africa, as he paddled out for his first wave when a large, grey fin emerged from the water and zoned in on the sports star, attempting to drag him under water.
Mick didn’t miss a beat and immediately punched the shark twice before being rescued by the safety crew on a jet ski.
Clearly shaken, Mick explained of the miraculous moment, which was caught on live TV: “It came up and got stuck in my leg rope.”
He added: “I instantly just jumped away. It kept coming at my board and I was kicking and screaming. I just saw fins. I didn’t see teeth. I was waiting for the teeth to come at me. I punched it in the back.”
“I was just about to start paddling again and all of a sudden I had this instinct that something was behind me. Then I started getting pulled under water and the thing came up and I was on my board and it was right there and I saw the whole thing, it was right there. I was getting dragged under by my leg rope,” he said.
“I felt like it was dragging me underwater and then my leg rope broke so I started swimming and screaming… I just can’t believe it, I’m just tripping out.”
As for whether Mick intended to take to the waters again for the competition, he told reporters: “Mate, I’m happy to not even compete again. To walk away from that, I’m just so stoked.”
Mick’s distraught mother, Liz Osborne, told 612 ABC of the shocking moment she watched the drama unfold on her TV.
“I just stood up and ran over to the television. I was so scared… I was so overwhelmed. I just thought when that wave came that he was gone,” she said.
Before adding that she immediately received a phone call from the organisers to let her know her son was OK.
“I’m so thankful and so proud of Mick… I’m so just grateful he didn’t have a leg missing or anything.”
Ms Osborne also expressed her gratitude for fellow surfer Julian: “They’re such great friends and Julian’s such a beautiful boy. I’m just so proud if everybody there. Everybody was do scared for him [Mick] they were speechless.”
Initial reports claimed Mick was attacked by two sharks however it’s now believed to be one large great white shark
Fellow Aussie and Mick’s opposition Julian Wilson, 26, was also in the water at the time and walked away unharmed.
In a true display of bravery and sportsmanship, Julian paddled furiously towards Mick when he realised what was happening.
“It was pretty spooky. I saw the whole thing pop up behind him. It came up and he was wrestling it,” a teary Julian recalled.
“I saw him get knocked off his board and then a little wave popped up and I thought ‘he’s gone, he’s gone under’. I felt like I couldn’t get there quick. I’m just happy he’s alive.”
Clearly blown away by Julian’s brave gesture, Mick wiped away tears as he said: “Even though we’re competitors we’re still friends. It’s so gnarly man… I’m tripping out.”
The event has since been cancelled and Wilson and Fanning will split the prize money.
“Friends first!”
