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AUSTRALIAN SURF CHAMPION Mick Fanning has called his escape from a shark attack a “miracle” and vowed to return to the waves, while paying tribute to “warrior” mate Julian Wilson for rushing to help.
The 34-year-old three-time world champion fought off a large shark during the final heat of a world tour event at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province on Sunday in dramatic scenes beamed live around the world.
He survived unscathed, with his rival and close friend Wilson, also from Australia, furiously paddling towards him to help despite the danger posed by the shark, believed to be a great white.
“I guess someone was looking out for me. To walk away from a shark attack with not a scratch on you, it’s a miracle really,” Fanning said after arriving back in Sydney with Wilson, where they were met by a large media scrum.
“You just count your lucky stars and if there is someone up there looking after us — thanks.”
As he was knocked off his board and desperately punched the shark to keep it at bay, Wilson paddled towards him in courageous actions that prompted his home state Queensland to nominate him for a bravery award.
https://vine.co/v/e6ZO0dTw1JB
“This man came to my aid like a warrior!!,” Fanning said of Wilson in an Instagram post earlier in the day, after social media went into meltdown over the dramatic close call.
A YouTube clip of the attack has had almost 13.5 million views and even Hollywood stars such as Charlize Theron and Russell Crowe have been following the action on Twitter.
Wilson played down his reaction, calling Fanning “a great role model”.
“As soon as I realised the danger and what was going on, I couldn’t get there quick enough,” he said in Sydney, adding that Fanning confronting the shark spurred him on.
It could be the thing that gave me the courage to just head for him. You know, to see that he just turned on something that was so much bigger than him.”
’Thanks for not eating me’
Speculation has been rife that Fanning may call it quits after hinting, in the moments after his terrifying ordeal, that he would not compete again.
He gave an emotional interview after he got out of the water (12 minutes in).
He admitted he was now dealing with “an emotional mental sort of trauma” and that it would probably take weeks, if not months, to get over. But he vowed to get back on his board again.
“Surfing has given myself and my family so much. It’s gotten me through the hardest times in my life,” he said. “So to turn my back on surfing, it just wouldn’t feel right.”
He is even prepared to get back in the waves at Jeffreys Bay, replying “for sure” when asked if he would compete there again next year.
And while both men were clearly shaken, they found time for some humour during a packed press conference with Fanning replying: “Thanks for not eating me” when asked if he had a message for the shark.
The World Surf League, which organised the J-Bay Open, commended the rescue teams who quickly came to Fanning’s aid and said the situation could have been much worse.
“Certainly it will give us an opportunity to sit down and reevaluate more the safety side of what we do,” commissioner Kieren Perrow told Australian Associated Press.
Perrow said authorities would look to employ new and improving technologies to deter sharks, while pointing out that the South African stop was not the only location with a reputation for sharks.
“Being able to have a solution that not just works here (in South Africa) but everywhere would be pretty incredible,” he said.
“We’ll spend some time doing that and then review what it means for the future.”
- © AFP 2015.
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Kelly keeping his seat? Your having a laugh.
He really does have no chance of keeping his seat. Alex White will need to pray every single transfer goes his way in order to scrape the last seat,
Seán Sherlock will only get elected assuming an independent doesn’t garner enough support to beat him and he gets some good transfers. Bacik won’t get elected.
Jan O’Sullivan is on course to be unseated by Sinn Féin in Limerick
Brendan Howlin is likely to scrape through on transfers in Wexford and just take the last seat.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin will be fighting with an independent for the last seat in Dublin Bay North
For me if I think voting for Alan Kelly will get Michael Lowry out I’d vote Kelly even though I’ve never voted labour in my life.
Lowry and Kelly are birds of a feather and with a similar outlook. Each entirely lacks political integrity.
Ah know Anthony I’m not a fan of Kelly but Lowry is in a league of his own.
Sick of all these weasels.
*no*
Gerry Adams or Alan Kelly Jane?
I could never vote for Gerry Adams Super. I cannot get past what Sinn Fein did regarding Det McCabe.
Joan Burton or Mary Lou?
Same thing Super I could never vote Sinn Fein.
Ah Jane.. Poor decision making
No Super I completely disagree. There is no doubt this government have made mistake after mistake and it really galls me that Kenny doesn’t think he’s answerable to the electorate and won’t do interviews. However, supporting lads who were robbing a postoffice and then shot a Guard who’s job it was to protect that post office is just wrong. I cannot get past that.
Do the country a favour and don’t vote jane if it’s Kelly or Lowry as your only options. Better still register yourself as an independent and vote for yourself would be a vote more worth giving….
I didn’t realize AAA got 4% in the last poll… that’s actually not bad..
Don’t worry Giuseppe I won’t be voting for either. But I do think I’ll be using my vote in a negative way to get Lowry out as opposed to getting who I want in. If that makes sense.
Why dont labour just join fg or ff sure they are all the same unless someone can tell how they are different._.
Tipp people have a lot to answer for, they gave us Lowry and Kelly, they should be barred from voting, numbnuts
Kerry people have given us 2 generations of Healy Rays, Dubs have given us the likes of Bertie and Joan Burton and mayo have given us Enda and P Flynn. I could go on. Stupid comment……numbnuts
????…They actually think they’ll have something to lead?…..bahawhahwahahaw!
No thanks I’ll pass there all traitors.
Al Ca..well said. on another note Baz’s mum must have taken her phone back…school starts again tomorrow
White wont even be a TD
Jenni how do you even keep track of all these multiple accounts of yours?
I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you around here a good bit tomorrow jenni ;)
no one likes you baz maybe you should try a different site .. now f@#=k off
Calm down Alan it’s going to be ok.
Ah come on now Alan, that’s not entirely true. Who doesn’t like someone that makes a fool of themselves consistently? He’s like a court jester, a clown if you will, sent here for our amusement.
Thanks Les. You’re opinion almost matters to me.
Thankfully it’s not an opinion!
In Cork, Baz is slang for pubic hair, nuf said
even the name labour makes me sick, they are gone in the next GE, no need to worry about who will lead them, as there will be nothing left to lead,
f^ck you labour! hopefully the electorate won’t forget! traitors. maybe Denis o Brien will have jobs for ye!
Well she’s f’d after the election! hopefully in 10 years we’ll be saying “remember Labour…”
If Alan Kelly becomes leader it will see the end of the Labour Party for good. The man couldn’t care less about the working class. They need to wipe the slate and start from scratch. Firstly thing is remove Joan and Kelly. I’ll never vote for them again, and I have supported them since all my voting life.
If I were seriously looking to revive Connolly’s party I’d start by purging all their TD’s and probably alert the naming to signal a new Labour and start again.
there is no labour party in this country, and this crowd conning the people that they are will be wiped out in GE.
Yea, the one labour candidate that gets elected will have to be leader also.
I wonder who that’ll be? Lol
reality is most of them won’t even get elected
Hopefully Stephen… FF also, they sat on the sidelines when it came to the marriage referendum, water charge debacle (which they started) and lets not forget the Mahon tribunal. Anyone who votes FG knows what they are getting. SF and independents all the way.
I can only speak from my personal experience, however I was very active in promoting Yes in the Marriage Referendum in Wicklow, knocking on doors and was joined by many members of FF, as well as other parties and no party
http://multistory.itison.net/2011/04/stephen-kearon-and-that-e3250-bill-for-hosting-a-website/
Stephen Kearon – a Fianna Fail member – at the same time as calling for spending cuts, was outed for charging€3250 for a year’s hosting of ONE website. When it’s a government site (Dick Roche’s) you can get away with this – despite calls for “spending cuts”.
Stephen also blew his career apart with some deranged comments about hoping Bobby Sands died painfully.
Even FF had to turn their back on him.
his FF career.
More right wing than the PDs and less relevant than the PDs. A proud and principled party was betrayed by Rabbitte, Gilmore and Burton. It is now condemned to history.
Coco the clown.
It will probably be a councillor as they will have no TDS after the next election the dirty sellouts.
the article left out a far more likely candidate than most of those above – Arthur Spring. Dick Springs son. He’ll surface and win if he wants it. Fresh blood. With a historical connection to Labour. My money is on him.
White a sharp mind? The dope that wasted €27 million by giving us Eircodes so that Irish Water could have a billing database at the expense of a proper GPS enabled postcode for our emergency services? White is a dope do you hear that Eunan a corrupt dope and a traitor to boot!
Sgt. Pepper – The likelihood of Arthur Spring holding his seat is somewhere between slim and none !
Local Polls put him at between 6/7% presently.
He has been largely Anonymous at Local level and has almost zero presence in South Kerry , which would be hugely essential, due to the amalgamation of the two Constituencies into One , for the whole of Kerry.
With only Five Seats to be won , he is the complete outsider of about Eight, in contention for the Five Seats.
In any case , Labour will do well , to win Six or Seven Seats , Nationally !
I personally , can’t wait for them to be wasted !
Excellent analysis on Spring in Kerry, he’s dead in the water, will go out early in the count on around 5 to 6% of the vote.
Sinn Fein will annihilate Liebor and i-Phone Moanie Joanie.
TÁL
The first thing you’ve said which makes sense.
Joan will be lucky to hold her seat.
As will all of these.
It could be an army of one.
Obviously comrade :)
I certainly hope that Sunday Business poll is out before the election is over
WIth Samsung of course Shinner O Bot?
Thanks Comrades, I am glad I have please HQ
“Ensign, as you know a captain must go own with his ship, so congratulations…I’m promoting you to captain. Now help me put this golden parachute on……”
Whichever one still has their seat I suppose.
A politicians version of musical chairs, except there is no music, and no chairs and only one left!!
Same circus different clowns
“The self-styled ‘Action Man’ has made no secret of his desire for the top job in Labour, a party which he often notes is “in my DNA”
If I were a grassroots member of the Traitor party, the last part of that sentence would scare the bejaysus out of me. If Alan Kelly is the future of the Traitor party you might as well merge with FG now and save the rest of us the pretense.
Les, do you really think FG would take him, sure they’re just having a laugh getting him to do their dirty work. They wouldnt touch him with a bargepole, he’s just another bi*ch for them to use.
Jenni when you consider that Fine Gael spent the best part of the last 4 years blaming Fianna Fail for everything, now there is whispers of them going into coalition together, like the political prostitutes that they are, of course they would take him if they thought there was some gain to be made from it.
I really don’t think anybody from Fine Gael is holding a gun to Alan Kelly’s head, do you? When the Traitor party perceived things were going well they told us “they were equal partners in coalition” and when things were going badly “we’re only the junior coalition party.” Kelly is more Fine Gael than many in Fine Gael.
And for the most part I agree with you. At this stage most of the main stream politicians are liars and thieves. Fg reared their own, Kelly is a labour turncoat, we all see that. FG wouldnt have him, similarly, they would take anyone else from labour. They put labour into some of the most difficult ministeries, made them do a horrible job and now they are leaving them to rot. and thats exactly why I will vote for neither. One are a bunch of cowardly turncoats, and the other are a bunch of bullies. And I dont like bullies..especially ones that affect my kids.
*wouldnt take anyone else*
Whether you’re right or I am, at least we can both agree that Alan Kelly’s immediate future will be a bleak one, which is nice ;-)
Agreed.
The image of burtons face would turn your stomach, that’s if they have left you enough money in your pocket to feed yourself
Labours next leader? I give you….Vidkun Quisling
Ged Nash “well liked”, by whom?
LMFM radio?
Loud Mouth For Meath…
By himself.
Interesting to see if Howlin retains his seat.
Enda’s little Rottweiler? Hope not!
Which leader will announce the end of the Labour Party?
GED better not get in for Louth. does nothing for the area. a glorified over paid assistant job minister
Ged Nash not a living chance, probably Kelly as Howlin has history which google doesn’t show in their search engine…
-1 voter here + i have 3 voting children who’ll be voting elsewhere. You’ve lost the core supporters liebour, dam you for fooling me so long, #neveragainliebour
I hear Judas Iscariot has his eye on the post…
Assuming they have enough members left to make a quorum, he should be a shoe in!
They won’t need a leader nothing left to lead
whichever one of the horrible self serving toads gets it; drink deeply from the poisoned chalice.
She’s aged like milk…
What a joke of a list, bedsides the LAB will be obliterated in the next GE and it really does not matter who their next leader will be.
The core of the next government will be FG and Labour. Now red thumb that all you guys in SF/IRA headquarters.
So everyone that disagrees with you MUST be in Sinn Fein? You really are a child, you need to grow up mate or at least pretend you’re a grown up.
I can even see the excuses after the ge “oh we did,nt realise people felt this way” and “we will learn from our mistakes”.
It happened the last time with the greens and ff. We have got to stop voting the same parasites in every time or nothing will change.
I’m NOT a SF voter.
Actually I started up my own political group (UNITEDPEOPLE) now registering as a party.
Don’t let fact come in the way of your fiction though!
Comment directed at Powerabbey. No one else.
But Enda’s doing such a great job… ;)
Be careful, some mightn’t know sarcasm…
That will not be nessessary as they are heading for a wipe out :-)
Who in there right state of mind would cast a vote labours direction you’d want your head examined if you did
Given that only a handful of Labour TDs (4 or 5) will be returned after the next general election, there wont be many to lead. What Labour needs is leadership out of the right wing austerity anti worker, anti joe soap, cutback let policies that they have supported and adopted. They are no different from FF or FG or Renua. They are the most right wing Labour Party in western Europe and I can honestly say they make me want to vomit.
Who’s Labour?
I voted Labour last time….and that will be the last time.
have a look at paddy power and see the odds. the bookies in england where accurate in election when most people.were suprised
Its like arguing who wants to be the new captain of the Titanic after it has hit the iceberg?
As a fellow Drogheda voter like Ged Nash, his seat is CERTAINLY up for grabs and is NOT safe.
…
Will be after the next election?
Shortall.
Yep, Sherlock will lead the “new” Labour Party when they emerge from the next GE.
Our local lad (Derek Nolan) hasn’t a prayer.
Sorry, Shortall!
Whats the collective noun for a bunch of tools?
A toolbox.
Let’s be honest, who cares ? seriously …
They don’t have to worry about a future leader, just somebody to put the cat out when Labour’s party is finally over and their political door is slammed shut
How can you have a leader if not 1 is elected?
In my mind there is no real choice of leader that is in anyway inspirational….there f#### anyway
Where they are going they will not need a leader .
They will. They’ll need someone to guide them through the political wilderness so they can find out where the PDs ended up.
who cares labour will be wiped out in next election….
Who cares they will be gone next election.
I would have thought that Arthur Spring would be on that list.
have your say