Mick Fanning limped off the beach the day after he showed up in J-Bay. Photos: WSL
When Mick Fanning was attacked by that shark at Jeffreys Bay, it made the entire world look at surfing for a few brief minutes. 60 Minutes, NBC, ABC, BBC–nearly every major new outlet in the world put their cameras in his face. We did, too. And it went on for the entire year. Now, of course, with Jeffreys Bay on the calendar, Mick’s return to the place where he punched a shark in the face on live tv is something everyone’s got their eye on. But an ankle injury might’ve thrown a wrench in the machine.
Mick, though, wasn’t all that interested in all the fame part. He just wants to surf. “I’m not the guy that really loves a lot of media attention or anything like that,” said Mick. “I don’t want to be crazy famous. I don’t want to be in the spotlight every single day. So I just tried to get on with life as best I can and try to be me.”
It was with that mindset that Fanning showed up at J-Bay. He came a week early to get his mind right. On his second day, he did a layback cutty like he’s done thousands of times and rolled his ankle. Fanning rode the next wave to shore, then limped his way up the beach. At first, he was devastated.
“Obviously I was shattered thinking I wasn’t going to surf, but after seeing the physio, signs started to look positive, and with some rehab and strapping,” Fanning told the WSL. “I’m hoping I’ll be able to paddle out and compete. J-Bay is a very special place to me so I am going to do everything I can to paddle out.”
Watch the wave that Mick injured himself on on Worldsurfleague.com.
