The mother of a surfer who fought off a shark has vividly described how her terror turned to relief as she watched his escape on live television.
The footage of a giant fin, believed to be that of a great white, closing in on Mick Fanning as he competed off the coast of South Africa has become an internet sensation.
The three-time world champion punched the shark on its back and used his board as a shield but was then hidden from view by a wave that left his mother, Elizabeth Osborne, agonised in her living room thousands of miles away in Australia.
“It was absolutely terrifying,” she told the country’s broadcaster ABC on Monday. “I actually got up and walked across to the television because I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I thought we’d lost him. I went over to the television almost as though I could pull him out of the television. I just wanted to save him really, but there was nothing I could do.”
Osborne added: “I was so scared. I just thought when that wave came through that he’d gone.”
She said she was sure her late son, Sean, who died in a car crash about 17 years ago, was looking out for 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,” Osborne continued. “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.”
Fanning, 34, was competing in Sunday’s final of the J-Bay Open surf competition in Jeffreys Bay in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. He was dragged from his board as the shark severed his leg rope while he tried to paddle away. Spectators screamed from the beach and TV commentators were stunned, but Fanning re-emerged and was plucked to safety by rescue teams without injury.
Osborne said she was proud of her son: “We always say in our family, ‘We never give up and we never give in’. And he didn’t. He’s such a fighter. I’m just so thankful and so proud of Mick and so grateful to the universe that he didn’t have a leg missing.”
Osborne said her son – who admitted he was “tripping out” after the close encounter and would be happy to “never compete again” – needs time to process what had happened and it would be up to him to decide on his future.
She added that she would be always be grateful to fellow Australian Julian Wilson, who paddled towards Fanning when he realised he was in trouble. “They are just such great friends and Julian is such a beautiful boy. Everybody was just so scared for Mick.
“I can’t believe that that shark thought, oh no, no I’m not going to do anything here, I’m going. I just thank the shark very much for just disappearing.”
Wilson was tearful after the incident. He told the Australian Associated Press: “It came up and he was wrestling it, and I saw he got knocked off his board. I was like, ‘I’ve got a board, if I can get there I can stab it or whatever, I’ve got a weapon’.”
The World Surf League cancelled the rest of the event, with Wilson and Fanning both agreeing to take second place in the competition. The prize money for first place was also split between the pair.
The incident triggered a cascade of internet spoofs including photoshopped images of Fanning wrestling, boxing and surfing on top of the shark. Eleven-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater expressed his relief on Instagram that Fanning survived the ordeal. “Glad to know this guy and even happier that he swam/walked away unscathed,” he wrote. “The only mark on him is a tiny scratch (probably from hitting the shark) on his left-hand knuckle.
“The scariest moment was when he turned around to face where the shark would be coming from after swimming 20 meters towards shore. I can’t even imagine the vulnerability he must’ve felt.”
Fanning began his journey home to Australia’s Gold Coast and the World Surf League commissioner, Kieren Perrow, said it was unclear whether he would compete at the next tour event in Tahiti starting on 14 August.
“It’s probably the last thing on his mind,” he told the AAP. “He wants to get back and spend time with his family and then they’ll make a decision after that.
“Mick’s a really strong guy and a great person and he’ll probably be able, after he’s had some time to get through the emotion and the whole situation, he’ll re-evaluate and decide what to do.”
Perrow said a decision on the future of the Jeffreys Bay event was a debate for another time. It is not the only location on the tour with a reputation for sharks.
“Being able to have a solution that not just works here but everywhere would be pretty incredible,” he added. “We’ll spend some time doing that and then review what it means for the future.”
The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, himself a surfer, said: “It’s just terrifying to think that such a large shark could be so close to a surfing contest and I bet Mick Fanning is one hell of a relieved surfer. I think all of us, we go out into the waves and we love to see dolphin fins but if there’s any doubt about what kind of a fin it is, it’s pretty scary.”
