“First surf back. Feels so good”.
While it is hard to get that image of him being attacked by a shark out of your head, this might help
Mick Fanning has shared a picture of his return to the ocean this morning. And it is stunning.
A photo posted by Mick Fanning (@mfanno) on Jul 24, 2015 at 2:55pm PDT
In his post, the champion surfer also paid tribute to Andy Irons, a hugely influential surfing champion who died of a cardiac arrest in 2010. Today was his birthday, and Fanning wrote: “Surfed by myself but had Andy in my thoughts. #AIforever”.
Fanning has been spending time with his family on the Gold Coast this week. His mother has spoken about her horror of watching on as her son was attacked. “I definitely thought we’d lost him, I saw a couple of splashes when that wave came up, and I definitely thought, that’s it he’s gone,” she said.
You can read more from that interview here.
Many people wrote about Mick Fanning this week, but there was one sentiment that outshone all others.
Andrew Daddo wrote beautifully about the gift that Fanning gave all of us when he spoke honestly and openly about his experience, without being macho or dramatic. Fanning humbly gave credit to his friend Julian Wilson who paddled towards him when he was in trouble, without thought for his own safety.
You can read Andrew Daddo’s post about why Fanning is a role model here.
And in case you missed it, there was one man who was not rescued from the waters of Jeffery’s Bay – the photographer who was filming Mick Fanning’s ride. He was actually left in the water by rescuers. “But I actually hung around for like maybe a minute thinking the jetskis would come back to me. Once I realized they were going in, it was time for me to swim in.” You can read his extraordinary story here.
Unsurprisingly, the internet has responded to the Mick Fanning punches a shark story quite hilariously:
Mick Fanning Shark Memes.
Have you been able to get that shark image out of your mind?