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Survival instinct helped Mick Fanning during shark attack: Layne Beachley

An Australian surfer has made an incredible escape after encountering two sharks during a major competition in South Africa. I’m lost for words to be honest.

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Fanning – nicknamed “White Lightning” – managed to fight off the shark before making his way to the safety of a boat that came rushing to his aid. He commended everyone involved in the rescue, including Wilson, who was “sprint paddling to get to his friend”. Thankfully Mick survived unharmed but hopefully no more boards will get pained yum yum yellow anytime soon.

Fanning’s mother, Elizabeth Osborne, saw the entire ordeal play out on TV. Her son’s brush with death could have ended very differently.

“It was absolutely terrifying”.

I was curious, is the legend of yum yum real?

‘I was kicking trying to get it away, ‘ he said afterwards.

Osborne said she believes Fanning’s brother Sean, who died in a auto accident 17 years ago, was watching over his sibling. “I’m so just grateful he didn’t have a leg missing or anything”. “It was just bad”.

“It was extraordinary vision to see a surfer of that caliber and that notoriety actually wrestling with a shark”. If the shark was attacking, Mick would have massive injuries if not loss of life.

After the incident Fanning told reporters how he was waiting for the shark’s teeth to bite down.

These incidents have led to a string of untested theories, with the North Carolina attacks blamed upon a change in water temperature that attracted a large group of migrating warm-water sharks, such as bull and tiger sharks.

Commentator Ross Williams said there are occasionally shark sightings in and around events, but an actual attack was very unusual.

Once Mick Fanning reached the coast and was out of the water, he was clearly relieved.

If Shark Week and “Jaws” turning 40 weren’t enough to remind you about the dangers of simply enjoying a day at the beach, a new horror emerged over the weekend, featuring a shark that wanted to see what surfer Mick Fanning tasted like.

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“I would like to see something be brought into place by either councils or State Government to try and at least regulate the amount of sharks that are coming through”, he said. “I punched it in the back”. I couldn’t believe what I saw; to think I was only metres away from a shark was pretty scary.

Mick Fanning to face emotional homecoming