Mick Fanning On Shark Attack 'Mental Trauma'
Triple world champion Mick Fanning says he may have escaped without a scratch but the memory of the attack is haunting him.
Tuesday 21 July 2015 07:58, UK
The top surfer who survived a shark attack during a televised competition in South Africa says he is suffering an "emotional, mental trauma".
Australian Mick Fanning, a triple world champion, managed to punch the animal and escape unhurt.
The attack happened during the final of the J-Bay Open event in Eastern Cape.
Video showed the shark's fin rising out of the water behind Fanning as he paddled on his board waiting to take his turn.
At a news conference in Sydney, Fanning, nicknamed "White Lightning" because of his speed in the water, relived his ordeal.
The 34-year-old recalled: "It just came up and went for the tail of my board
"Why it didn't bite (I don't know).
"It just kept coming back and I was on top of it, trying to put my board in between us
"I guess you've seen that footage of when the wave went … My board was off and I was trying to get to my board when the wave went, and it came back again
"That's when I sort of positioned myself away from it, to the side of it, and it was just right there and that's when I punched it.
"I just sort of went into a final fight, really."
Fanning said he was "doing okay. I haven't got a scratch on me … just more of an emotional, mental trauma".