Fanning escapes shark attack

The Australian was a finalist in the J-Bay Open when the shark struck. As Fanning waited for his first wave of the final, a fin surfaced behind him. Fanning noticed the animal at the last moment and paddled away but was soon dragged off his board. To make the spectacle even more agonising, a wave then hid Fanning as he struggled to escape as the commentators – obviously shocked – tried to explain what was happening. “Holy shit,” one of them whispered.
Fanning would have a


lucky escape. Nearby rescue boats were soon on hand and he was helped to shore alongside fellow finalist, Julian Wilson. Fanning was understandably shaken after the incident. “All of [a] sudden, I just had this instinct that something was behind me,” Fanning told the World Surf League website. “And then all of a sudden, I felt like I started getting pulled under water. Then the [shark] came up, and I was on my board and it was like right there, and I saw the whole thing thrashing around.
“I was getting dragged under by my leg [rope], and then I felt like it kicked me off, but it was still there, and I was still attached to my board. I felt like it was dragging me under water, and then my leg rope broke, and I started swimming and screaming.”