VIDEO: World Champion Surfer Fights Off Attack By 2 SHARKS On LIVE TV!
This will give you nightmares…
Australian surfer, Mick Fanning, was attacked by not one but two sharks while taking part in J-Bay Open competition in South Africa on Sunday. Thankfully, the 3-time World Champion surfer was unharmed.
But the craziest part was…. it all happened on LIVE TV! Fanning was seen wading out into the surf and, while waiting for a wave, he was knocked off his board and began to fight for his life against the sharks.
“Holy s–t!” an announcer said during the World Surf League’s broadcast, which was posted on the group’s YouTube page (and you can also watch it below).
After the attack, the competition was called off. Both Fanning and a fellow surfer who was also in the water (and actually tried to swim towards Fanning to help fight off the sharks), Julian Wilson, were picked up by safety personnel on jet skis.
“Oh man, I’m trippin’,” Fanning told a reporter for the World Surf League. “I’m totally fine, I’ve got nothing wrong with me.”
“I was just sitting there…and then I felt something grab, like get stuck in my leg rope and I just instantly just jumped away and they just kept coming at my board and I was just like kicking and screaming,” he said. “I just saw fins. I didn’t see the teeth. I punched it in the back.”
The World Surf League plans to resume the competition once it’s determined that the water is safe.
Source: Kelly Cestari / Getty
“This is the first time in professional surfing history…nobody ever experienced a situation like there, where a surfer is actually attacked by two sharks right when the final starts,” said Renato Hickel, the WSL deputy commissioner.
“We are incredibly grateful that no one was seriously injured today,” the group said in a statement. “Mick’s composure and quick acting in the face of a terrifying situation was nothing short of heroic and the rapid response of our Water Safety personnel was commendable—they are truly world class at what they do.”
SO scary! Thank goodness no one was harmed.
And yeah, I think I’m gonna stick to dry land for the time being…