While Mick Fanning was pulled from the water, this forgotten surf photographer was left behind. Whoops.

Won’t someone think of the photographer?

The world gave a collective sigh of relief when triple world champion surfer Mick Fanning and fellow Aussie surfer Julian Wilson were saved from a shark on the attack in South African swells earlier this week.

But it seems we all forget about the poor local surf photographer, who was 150 metres from the action, including the rescue jetski operators.

So, he was left to battle it out with the shark that JUST ATTACKED A LEGENDARY SURFER ALL ALONE.

“I saw the initial splash and Mick spin around and then I saw the fin slap at him. It took a couple seconds for my brain to engage and it was like, ‘Ok what is going on?’,” photographer Kelly Cestari told World Surf League.

Related: Today Mick Fanning did something that made him a role model. And it wasn’t
punching a shark.

“As Giggs, the beach commentator, started screaming, ‘GET TO MICK!’ I think I spun around to the boat and yelled, ‘Go get Mick, Go get Mick’. The boats and the jetskis had already taken off and were in full speed, which is their job, to get the guy in trouble.

“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.”

Cestari said he took the swim very slowly, trying not to splash around and attract the shark, while onlookers called out from the beach.

“It’s something you think of all the time. It’s something you are aware of but never ever expect to happen. Once I got to shore I was pretty much staring at the boat going, ‘Is this actually happening?’

“After seeing Mick do the interview and break down, once I had gotten out of my wetsuit I had a few moments to think about it and that’s when I sort of started having a meltdown. Going through all the different scenarios that could have happened but thankfully didn’t.”

Good on him for taking it on the chin like a champ.

For more on the scary incident, try these articles:

Amazing footage as Aussie world champion surfer Mick Fanning fights off shark.

Mick Fanning’s mum tells what it was like to watch her son get attacked by a shark.

Today Mick Fanning did something that made him a role model. And it wasn’t punching a shark.